Carney pledges $2.5B for First Nations emergencies

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced more than $2.5 billion over five years for emergency preparedness in First Nations communities and more than $630 million over four years for First Nations and Inuit policing on Monday, at the close of the first Indigenous-focused first ministers’ meeting in 21 years.

The closed-door session in Ottawa brought together Carney, premiers and territorial leaders, and First Nations representatives led by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. CBC News reported it was the first such meeting in 119 years to focus solely on First Nations issues. The last first ministers’ gathering of this kind was held in Kelowna, B.C., in 2005, when Paul Martin was prime minister.

The spending appears to foreshadow the federal budget due on Nov. 5, CBC reported.

Carney also said he shares Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s view that the time has come to reform or even abolish the Indian Act. He said he would direct his ministers to work with First Nations on a path forward. He said he would instruct the finance minister to work with First Nations on new revenue-sharing mechanisms, including a potential sovereign wealth fund, an idea the AFN raised in a position paper circulated before the meeting.

In his televised opening remarks, Carney called it “sobering” that two decades had passed since the last such meeting. “This is an important opportunity, yes, to share perspectives, to listen, to learn, but above all to commit to action,” he said.

Woodhouse Nepinak said nation-building “can’t just be about ramming through major projects” as fast as possible. “The national interests must also include the proposals, law and policy reforms that First Nations seek,” she said. She told reporters she was happy with the day and the commitments secured.

Reviews from First Nations leaders were mixed. Abram Benedict, the AFN’s Ontario regional chief, said he felt good about the investments and the potential wealth fund, but that Carney made no firm pledge to hold the meetings annually, as the AFN had requested. “There seems to be a willingness, but there was no commitment,” Benedict said. Carney said the right timeline for the next meeting is probably two years, CBC reported.

Cody Diabo, grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, left early and denounced the meeting as all about “butterflies and rainbows.” Hereditary Chief Na’Moks of the Wet’suwet’en Nation said he felt the meeting was about finding “cheerleaders” for the federal agenda, according to CBC. About 40 people protested outside, saying the AFN is a federally funded body elected by chiefs and does not speak for grassroots rights-holders.

Saskatchewan leaders raised specific concerns, Global News reported. Tammy Cook-Searson, chief of Lac La Ronge Indian Band and the province’s regional representative at the table, pushed for changes to the Indian Act so anyone with at least one status parent can pass on status, which she called a “discriminatory policy of the federal government.” Bill S-2, which would make that change, has passed the Senate and awaits study by a House of Commons committee.

Kirby Constant, chief of James Smith Cree Nation, said policing remains a top concern four years after a mass stabbing that killed 11 people and wounded 17. “The RCMP is not fulfilling their requirements to keep our community safe,” he said. Pete Chief of Onion Lake Cree Nation, which left the AFN three years ago, said no organization or government has the authority to speak for his nation.

Chief Sheldon Sunshine of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation told the leaders at the start of the day that history would judge them “by what we change.”

The meeting had been in doubt for some leaders. Quebec’s premier had said he would skip it, as we reported earlier, and chiefs had earlier urged Alberta to drop its separation petition appeal. We also previewed the Monday meeting.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.

Sources: CBC News (Brett Forester), Global News.