First Nations chiefs vote to oppose Carney government’s proposed major projects reforms

Resolutions set stage for first ministers meeting this October

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak delivers an address at the AFN 2026 Annual General Assembly in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Photo: The Canadian Press / Justin Tang

Brett Forester (new window) · CBC News

Assembly of First Nations chiefs on Wednesday unanimously resolved to oppose the Carney government's sweeping proposed reforms aimed at streamlining major project approvals, if those reforms weaken environmental protections or sidestep Indigenous rights.

The federal Liberals in May released a plan for an extensive legislative overhaul to get projects like pipelines approved within a year, including by creating a new Crown Consultation Hub to co-ordinate engagement with Indigenous Peoples.

The AFN's national chief denounced the plan in no uncertain terms on Tuesday as the advocacy organization, which represents chiefs countrywide, opened its annual summer political assembly in Ottawa.

A one-year timeline, principally designed to attract investment, subordinates the honour of the Crown to commercial imperatives. Instead, it will give rise to questions about the legitimacy of approvals, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told delegates at the Rogers Convention Centre.

The federal government can try and set up all the timelines that they want for project approvals, but they can't put a deadline on First Nations rights.

The delegates punctuated that point Wednesday morning by carrying resolutions to, in part, oppose any federal reforms that weaken environmental protections, undermine oversight, limit meaningful consultation, compress review timelines or circumvent First Nations' free, prior and informed consent.

The AFN logo is seen with Parliament Hill amid a smoky sky in the background, at the 2026 Annual General Assembly in Ottawa on Tuesday.

This cannot proceed without upholding First Nations rights, said the resolution's mover Judy Wilson, proxy delegate for the Shuswap Band in B.C.

The resolution helps set the stage for what's shaping up to be a high-stakes first ministers' meeting between First Nations leaders, provincial premiers and the prime minister this fall.

Woodhouse Nepinak told the group the prime minister's office confirmed the meeting will be held on Oct. 26, and the chiefs are slated to discuss the meeting further this week.

In the meantime, Woodhouse Nepinak said, Our message is simple and practical: that our rights are our rights and this land is our land.

The assembly on Tuesday further highlighted some of the simmering tensions with provincial and federal governments, whether the issue was separatism in Alberta, pipelines or the federal government's tabling of new on-reserve drinking water legislation, Bill C-37.

Alberta and Ontario last summer wrote the federal government (new window) urging it not to reintroduce this bill at all after a predecessor died on the order paper earlier in 2025. An out-of-court settlement, however, forces the Carney Liberals to reintroduce it.

But in doing so, the Liberals removed direct recognition of First Nations' human right to safe drinking water and rolled back protection for water sources off reserve, prompting accusations Canada weakened the bill to appease provinces and shield itself from legal liability.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty (new window) has previously told CBC Indigenous the changes in the bill were there to make it harder to challenge, particularly by provinces.

The assembly continues Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.

Brett Forester is a reporter with CBC Indigenous in Ottawa. He is a member of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation in southern Ontario who previously worked as a journalist with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.