Prairie premiers air grievance over natural resources talk

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This article was published 11/04/2023 (881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says federal Justice Minister David Lametti has triggered “consternation” on the Prairies, following recent comments made to the Assembly of First Nations.

On Tuesday, Stefanson issued a joint statement — with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — stating Lametti made “dangerous and divisive” comments regarding the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Act agreements.

“These agreements recognized the Prairie provinces with the same rights over resources that all other provinces already had,” the statement attributed to the three provincial leaders said. “Those rights have been fundamental to the people and the economic autonomy of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta for nearly 100 years.

“The federal government cannot unilaterally change the Constitution. It should not even be considering stripping resource rights away from the three Prairie provinces.”

Last week, while addressing delegates at the AFN special chiefs assembly in Ottawa, Lametti took a question about the Natural Resources Transfer Act.

Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte called for the NRTA to be rescinded, and asked Lametti, who is responsible for implementation of the United Nations Declaration Act into federal laws and policies, to take that action.

Hardlotte, who is from Lac La Ronge Indian Band in Saskatchewan, said the Saskatchewan First Act, passed by the Saskatchewan government last month, affects treaty rights. The legislation asserts the province has exclusive jurisdiction over its resources and established a tribunal to be used in future court cases.

“I take from Chief (Hardlotte)… the point about the Natural Resources Transfer agreement… and you’re on the record for that. I, obviously, can’t pronounce on that right now, but I do commit to looking at that,” Lametti said. “It won’t be uncontroversial is the only thing I would say, with a bit of a smile.”

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Stefanson said natural resources fall under the purview of the provincial government.

“If there’s any question about this whatsoever, though, the federal minister should clarify because it’s causing some consternation with the Prairie provinces,” Stefanson said. “He’s not being very clear on this.”

Stefanson said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should clarify the stance of the federal government on the matter.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Lametti said: “At no point did I commit our government to reviewing areas of provincial jurisdiction, including that over natural resources.”

“Amongst the many questions I was asked, the Natural Resources Transfer Act was raised by First Nations chiefs on a couple of occasions. It is part of my job to listen to those concerns,” Lametti said. “The focus of our government’s work is to co-develop an action plan with Indigenous partners that will show the path we must take towards aligning federal laws and policies with UNDRIP.”

Opposition Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew dismissed the premiers’ concerns as “social media fodder from the right-wing ecosystem.”

“Premier Stefanson’s pulling a page out of Danielle Smith’s playbook here and trying to distract from her failures on health care,” Kinew said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca