Premier, chiefs question lack of Manitoba First Nation voice on major project council

Premier Wab Kinew and chiefs across the province have raised concerns that no Manitoba First Nation representative was appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Indigenous advisory council for major projects.

“I think it is a missed opportunity,” Kinew said after the list of advisers was announced Thursday.

“The First Nations have to be given that opportunity to engage,” the premier said.

On Thursday, Carney unveiled the first five major projects of national importance that his government plans to fast-track through the approvals process, as well as the Indigenous council he appointed to offer advice.

“The members bring deep expertise in economic participation, impact assessments and (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People) and the council will ensure that projects move forward in true partnership with Indigenous peoples,” Carney said at news conference in Edmonton.

One of the 11 council members is an official from the Manitoba Métis Federation, however, there is no First Nation or Inuit voice from Manitoba.

Kinew said he planned to raise the issue with federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson at a meeting in Winnipeg Friday. Kinew said he spoke to the prime minister Thursday after the council appointees were announced and would “soon” speak to him again about the need to include a Manitoba First Nations voice.

“As part of having a good work working relationship, sometimes you tell your friends, ‘Hey, you know, I think maybe this thing could have gone a little differently.’ In this case, the Indigenous Advisory Council really could have benefited from having a voice from a Manitoba First Nation.”

The absence of representation is “a glaring oversight,” Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 northern First Nations, said in a news release.

The proposed revitalization of the Port of Churchill and the development of energy and trade corridors being considered for the next round of nation-building projects would directly impact Manitoba’s northern First Nations, Cree and Dene territories “yet there are no voices from Manitoba’s north at the table,” it said.

“We have no voice,” Chemawawin Cree Nation Chief Clarence Easter said Friday.

A news release issued earlier in the day by the northern Treaty 5 First Nations said “we will not accept back-door appointments that silence our leadership while claiming to represent our interests.”

Manitoba’s sole council appointee, Lorne Pelletier, is a Red River Métis and “very skilled when it comes to economic development,” Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand said Friday. That’s what Manitoba needs if Canada is to overcome economic threats from the U.S., Chartrand noted.

“If a recession does kick in, factories will shut, businesses will shut down. A lot of people will lose their houses… Where they saw a vision of prosperity, will be gone. And so this is a serious issue,” the president said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said the lack of a Manitoba First Nations representative on the council is “clearly an oversight” that needs to be corrected.

“If I was premier, I would be immediately lobbying Mark Carney for representation on that advisory committee with First Nations,” he said.

“Manitoba has the highest urban Indigenous population in Canada and of course Manitoba and First Nations must have representation on that advisory committee,” said Khan.

Chartrand said Carney “could not appoint everyone” to the council.

In a speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Friday, the federal minister for energy and natural resources said there are 640 First Nations in Canada.

“There are lots of nations that are quite interested in working in partnership… There are a lot of chiefs who aren’t,” Hodgson said. The federal government is not “jamming any projects anywhere” they’re not wanted, he said.

“Canada doesn’t have enough money to do everything, so if a nation doesn’t want, OK,” the minister said.

—with files from Gabrielle Piché

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca