Prime Minister Mark Carney listens as Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty speaks at a news conference in the House of Commons after Bill C-5 passed in the House in June.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Today Prime Minister Mark Carney will convene a gathering of 300 or more Indigenous leaders to discuss Bil C5. This bill was given assent in late June after hastily making its way through Parliament and the Senate. According to the federal government:
With the Building Canada Act in place, the Government of Canada will immediately move forward on consultations – as required under the Act – with provinces, territories and Indigenous rights-holders to determine the initial list of national interest projects.
The criteria that will be weighed in those discussions and decisions include the extent to which the project will:
Strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security;
Provide economic or other benefits to Canada;
Have a high likelihood of successful execution;
Advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples; and
Contribute to clean growth and to meeting Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, centre-left, speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)
For the most part, Indigenous communites don't see Bill C5 as advancing their interests, especially with this hurry-up agenda. While they want prosperity and are not categorically opposed to development they feel that this is one more example of being marginalized in decison-making on what is land over which they have sovereignty through Treaties with the Crown established through the centuries.
I have already voiced my disgust with the Ontario government over Bill 5 which removes enviromental safeguards and overrides Indigneous rights, supposedly in the cause of fast-tracking development in the so-called Ring of Fire in the north. Doug Ford, who grew up in the wilds of Etobicoke, seems unable to understand why Indigenous groups are cautious about development without consultation and environmental protection.
Canada has made a lot of noise about Truth and Reconciliation in recent years and many Christians in different denominations have made commitments to this end. Lots of United Church congregations include Land Acknowledgements on Sunday mornings. Isn't this where we put our words into action?