‘Actions are louder than words’ First Nations say as Carney tries to turn the page with major projects summit

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GATINEAU, Que. — Prime Minister Mark Carney opened Thursday’s First Nations major projects summit trying to turn the page, but attendees were quick to say that it’s going to take more than one meeting to build consensus around Ottawa’s plans to rapidly develop new energy and infrastructure projects.

Carney convened the major one-day meeting, bringing First Nations chiefs and organizations together at the Museum of History to discuss the implementation of his Building Canada Act, which gives cabinet the power to sidestep existing laws to expedite approvals for big energy and infrastructure projects deemed to be in the national interest.

Thursday’s summit – attended by several cabinet ministers and Indigenous MPs as well as hundreds of First Nations stakeholders – was set up after the Liberal government faced major backlash from chiefs who said their rights were not respected in the rush to pass the legislation through Parliament.

“I’m going to say a few words, and then I’m going to listen,” Carney said at the start of his 15-minute opening remarks.

He went on to emphasize how the contentious legislation – known as Bill C-5 before it passed into law last month – is about enabling a process, and that the government has yet to identify specific projects to start consulting on.

“By moving forward together, we can write a new chapter. We together can write a new chapter in the relationship between the government of Canada and First Nations. And those aren’t just words. This isn’t an aspiration. This is the law,” Carney told the crowd, seated in the grand hall, which features the world’s largest indoor collection of totem poles.

Seeking to assure the many chiefs who came to the national capital region for the meeting that the federal government is only interested in projects that have Indigenous interest and collective economic opportunity, the prime minister promised First Nations leaders they can “help build the prosperity of your communities for generations to come.”

Setting expectations Wednesday for the discussion to be led by Indigenous people, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said Thursday that as of mid-morning, it was “more so a panel format where we’ve been listening in on a number of different speakers.”

But that seemed to change as the day went on. Coming out of the day-long discussions on meaningful consultation and economic prosperity, attendees speaking to CTV News said that while Carney stood by his law – signalling amendments won’t be the path he takes – the prime minister did hear them out.

“The agenda was, I would say, abandoned to accommodate the speeches of the chiefs and the concerns of the chiefs, which I feel was a good move of on the prime minister’s part,” said Treaty 8 First Nations Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi. “It’s good to have the prime minister sitting with us … he made himself available and we brought our concerns and letters forward.”

Terry Teegee, the elected Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, said Wednesday he was coming in a bit “cynical,” but by the end of Thursday, he said he was “cautiously optimistic” after watching the prime minister face “tough … hard … and blunt questions.”

“I’m glad the prime minister and cabinet ministers stayed all day … but still I think the way the legislation is crafted, as we heard today from many chiefs, there’s still a lot of trust issues,” he said.

“We’ll see where this goes … actions are louder than words.”

‘The conversations are happening’

Speaking briefly with reporters before the meeting got underway, Carney was confident about the government getting consensus from First Nations leaders about how to move forward.

“Everyone wants to make the country better,” he said. “Everyone wants more resources for social services, for health, for education, for community services,” he said.

Though, heading in, several chiefs said their expectations were low, and by midday attendees emerged from the early sessions doubtful about getting on the same page by the end of the day.

“I don’t think we’ve gotten to a place where you’re going to see any agreement come out of this, but the conversations are happening and I think that’s what people have come here to do,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels with Southern Chiefs’ Organization. “The issues are too complex.”

Chief Murray Clearsky from the Waywayseecappo First Nation in Manitoba said that as someone who was involved in the Idle No More movement, he still thinks the conditions are there for a second, similar protest to be sparked.

“Depends how things go here,” he said. “I’ll say one thing, if we don’t get what we want, like people are talking and I’m hearing a lot of them … I’m not scared to start it up again,” Clearsky said.

Others were still willing – as Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak put it yesterday – to give the prime minister the “benefit of the doubt.”

Grand Chief Wilbert Kochon of the Sahtu Dene Council said that he thought Carney was “speaking from the heart.”

“I think we can work with him,” he said.

Though outside the meeting, emotions ran high, from protesters on scene worried about protecting their land, to a group of First Nations Chiefs from Treaty 6 – which covers central portions of present-day Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – calling the meeting they did not attend “political theatre.”

More meetings needed, coming

Speaking to reporters outside – after they were not permitted by the prime minister’s planning team to stay inside the museum to hear her speech – Chief Woodhouse Nepinak affirmed that this summit “will not be a one-off.”

“I don’t think that a one-day meeting is going to solve 150 years of a new young country that we are,” Woodhouse Nepinak said. “It’s going to take a lot more than that.”

Among her list of requests of the Crown were to tackle the Indigenous infrastructure gap, no “big budget cuts” to services, and Carney committing to a follow-up meeting a year from now.

While some positive assurances around these concerns were made by ministers speaking to reporters when the summit wrapped, the prime minister has yet to affirm publicly if he’s putting a one-year touchpoint on his calendar.

Carney has confirmed he’ll be launching a “regional dialogue and consultation process that will provide further opportunity for input and feedback,” noting not all invited chiefs could attend given local wildfires.

Carney will also be meeting with Inuit and Métis leadership in the coming weeks, though he also told chiefs today he plans to get his new major projects office up and running, and ready to start considering approvals for new energy and infrastructure developments, by Labour Day.

“There’s many steps to complete before we actually select a project, and the prime minister wants to make sure that that’s done well,” said Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty. “In his closing comments, he spoke about the level of trust and what’s needed to make sure that we get to that place together.”