More than 250 First Nations leaders, regional organizations and other rights holders’ representatives attended the event in Gatineau, Que., to discuss the legislation and how to most effectively build major projects in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.
The Building Canada Act came into force on June 26 as part of the One Canadian Economy Act, or Bill C-5.
Among key demands, Indigenous leaders at the summit called for the full repeal of the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Act (NRTA), which they said deprives First Nations of jurisdiction over their own lands and resources, according to a July 17 news release issued by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
“Bill C-5 cannot be a tool to fast-track development while we’re still shut out of the wealth stolen from our territories,” said Chief Derek Nepinak of Manitoba’s Minegoziibe Anishinaabe. “We are reclaiming what was always ours, not just revenue, but recognition.”
A July 17 news release from the Prime Minister’s Office said the federal government is moving forward with several new measures to ensure that major projects are built in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, including an Indigenous Advisory Council that will work closely with the new Major Federal Projects Office, $40 million in funding for Indigenous participation, and doubling the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program to $10 billion to provide capital to Indigenous communities for equity ownership in major nation-building projects.
“Collaboration will continue with First Nations leadership at all levels through regional dialogue tables,” said the news release. “The Prime Minister will soon meet separately with the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee and Métis leadership to further advance these conversations on a distinctions basis.”
Earlier this week, several Ontario First Nations announced they are launching legal action in Ontario Superior Court to quash Bill C-5 and Ontario’s Bill 5, which is also geared toward fast-tracking major infrastructure projects in “special economic zones.”
“These laws authorize the Crown governments to approve on a fast track major projects like Ring of Fire mining and pipelines, by short circuiting the need to get critical information about human and environmental safety and impacts and without involving the very peoples whose lands these projects would eat up,” said Alderville First Nation Chief Taynar Simpson.
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