Prime Minister Mark Carney told Mรฉtis leaders on Thursday their voices will be heard and rights respected as the Liberal government implements its legislation to fast-track major projects deemed to be in the national interest.
As he opened a small summit inย Ottawa, Carney said for too long economic and public policy decisions were made without listening to Mรฉtisย voices. Butย “we’re listening now,” he added.
“Respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples is at the core of the Building Canada Act. It’s embedded in the law itself,” Carney said inside the Centre for Geography and Exploration at 50 Sussex Drive, along the Ottawa River.
“This law requires meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples both in the process of determining which projects are in the national interest and in the development of the conditions for each project.”
Indigenous Peoples have raised concerns about the legislation potentially being used to sidestep environmental protections and ignore their rights in the name of cutting red tape. Thursday’s meeting is the last of three called this summer aimed atย easingย their fears.
A summit with First Nations leaders last month ended with some optimism but for most the questions remained. At their meeting, Inuit leaders were reassured the law won’t breach their modern treaties.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with Metis leaders in Ottawa about Bill C-5, the major projects bill. In his opening remarks, Carney said that Mรฉtis have played a โpivotal role as skilled traders and voyagers” throughout Canada’s history.
On Thursday, Carney acknowledged the Mรฉtis Nation’s contributions to Canada as traders and voyageurs who helped forge the budding country’s original trade networks.
“In some respects our task today is part of a process of creating new trade networks, new forms of commerce in Canada, both with full recognition this time of Mรฉtis contributions and full Mรฉtis access to the opportunities and the prosperity that this building will create,” he said.
However, the summit is happening amid a boycott by Manitoba Mรฉtis leaders and concerns from other groups who weren’t even invited.
Aย short distance away at the Chateau Laurier hotel on Wednesday, the Manitoba Mรฉtis Federation (MMF) denouncedย the Liberal government’s inclusion ofย the Mรฉtis Nation of Ontario (MNO), a group the federation has accused of Indigenous identity theft.
David Chartrand, president of MMF, the federally recognized government of the Red River Mรฉtis, told reportersย the door remains open to meet but if Carney wants to “insult us, then we’ll see each other in a different political realm.”
The prime minister seemed unbothered as he walked into the meeting Thursday.
“I had a very good conversation with President Chartrand last night. We’ve had good engagement directly with the Manitoba Mรฉtis and that will continue,” he told reporters.
The Mรฉtis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) also refused to attend after it was only invited to participate as an online observer. Independent Mรฉtis communities weren’t invited either.
Canada invited the four Mรฉtis groups with signed self-government agreements: Otipemisiwak Mรฉtis Government (OMG) in Alberta, Mรฉtis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S), MMF and MNO.
Media weren’t allowed into the meeting room but copies of some Mรฉtis leaders’ opening remarks provided to CBC Indigenous suggest a collaborative mood inside.
“Let me be clear, the Mรฉtis Nation within Alberta is not here to slow down major projects, we are here to help get them done,” reads OMG President Andrea Sandmaier’s opening remarks.
MNO President Margaret Froh’s opening speech stressed that the Supreme Court of Canada in 2003 unanimously affirmed the existence of a rights-bearing Mรฉtis community in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
“Prime minister, the MNO and the Mรฉtis communities we represent look forward to working with your government to implement the act,” reads Froh’s speech.
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