First Nations don't have a veto over nation-building projects, Mark Carney's justice minister says

“In most circumstances, I think it demands a very deep level of, of engagement and understanding of the rights that may be impacted. And to the extent that those rights can be accommodated, we should make every effort to. The explicit nature of a veto — so from my understanding — is it stops short of a complete veto,” Fraser said in response to the Star’s questions Tuesday.

“But it certainly, in my view, heightens the demands upon government to engage fully to both understand the nature of the rights that could be impacted by decisions taken by the government, but also the heightened duty to accommodate those rights that are baked into our treaties and protected by our Constitution.”

The first ministers meeting in Saskatoon ended Monday with Carney promising Indigenous leaders would be deeply involved in the development of “nation-building” projects that all premiers are keen to accelerate, and which Carney intends to fast-track with new legislation, tighter timelines for approvals, and possibly federal infrastructure money as he squares off against President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

Fraser said “international commentary and the limited jurisprudence” interpreting the UN declaration indicates that “we do need to fully engage and to the extent there’s a potential to have a more direct impact on Aboriginal and treaty rights, it demands a higher degree of engagement.” But, he said, experts have suggested “that is not necessarily a blanket veto power.”

“But of course, we’re in new territory here. Over the course of the next generation, I expect the courts are going to do some significant work, but hopefully a lot of that work is actually going to be done between governments and Indigenous Peoples themselves through engagement and conversations.”

Fraser’s comments represent the first clear statement of how Carney’s government will interpret the UN declaration and Canadian law when it comes to consulting Inuit, First Nations and Métis people about projects on lands over which they may hold treaty or constitutional land claims.

It stands in contrast to how many Indigenous leaders view the Crown’s legal obligation to consult them, many of whom argue it grants the power to consent to or deny economic development proposals. 

Canada adopted legislation and an action plan to implement the UN declaration under then-justice minister David Lametti, now principal secretary to Carney.

The AFN, the national advocacy group for First Nations, on Monday reminded Carney of his legal obligations to consult and obtain the consent of affected communities when drawing up the legislation to fast-track projects, and when deciding on which projects will be designated “nation-building” and qualify for expedited approvals.

Without the “free, prior and informed consent” of those communities, the AFN warned Carney’s plan will be mired in conflict and litigation.

Both B.C. and Ontario governments have faced pushback from Indigenous groups as they tried to expedite resource development projects.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has moved to amend a controversial bill in an effort to address concerns that Indigenous treaty rights and environmental protections are under threat. His government has proposed to allow Indigenous-led special economic zones over mining and infrastructure projects that could benefit their communities. In B.C. First Nations leaders say a new mining framework should recognize a “duty to consent” not a duty to consult. 

“I believe in duty to consult,” Ford told reporters in Toronto Tuesday. “I believe in treaty rights. But we can’t take two, three years for duty to consult. We need to move forward. What I’ve experienced, when they have an equity partnership in any deal, the duty consult moves rapidly. Really quick, which is a good thing, but there’s an opportunity unlike they’ve ever seen before, and we just want a great partnership.”

He said there are “many, many chiefs” that want developments like northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining region to be developed. “They want this road built. They want the quality of life for their kids that they never had, and that’s what we’re providing with them, and they’re going to be great partners as we move forward.”

Fraser, the federal justice minister, speaking to reporters before a cabinet meeting in Ottawa Tuesday, said that “when we get down to the actual project decisions, it’s important that we fully understand the potential impact that those projects could have on rights that are protected in our treaties and again, protected by our constitution before we actually move forward with specific projects.”

He said Ottawa has had “some engagement to date leading up to this first ministers meeting,” adding the engagement is “ongoing.”

However, AFN national chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak in a letter to Carney released Monday said it was insufficient for Ottawa to merely provide a letter and a three-page background document without providing the proposed legislation for fast-tracking project approvals to First Nations. 

Nepinak said she told Carney in a meeting last week that when it comes to “nation-building projects,” Canada needs to start with fast-tracking the basics like clean water, quality housing, modern schools, all-season roads and community infrastructure.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty said that while closing the First Nations infrastructure gap is important, it’s not considered nation-building and would be pursued outside the proposed legislation.

Fraser said the prime minister “has committed to engaging over the course of the summer directly with Indigenous leaders.”

“We’ve learned over the course of Canada’s history if you exclude rights holders from the conversation, in the long term, it’s actually going to slow you down. So putting in the work up front to make sure that the nature of the rights that could be impacted are well understood and moving forward, preferably in collaboration with Indigenous partners, is going to set you up for success in the long term.”

But, said Fraser, there are many Canadians that do want to see projects move more swiftly.

“It’s also very clear in my community and communities across the country, Canadians want to see major projects that advance the national interest approved more quickly than the existing regime has for those key projects that are nation building. So the prime minister has made that commitment. We’re going to be moving forward with measures that will help move forward those projects in the national interest, but we’re going to do what we can to do it in collaboration with Indigenous partners along the way.”

After the first ministers meeting ended Monday in Saskatoon, premiers emerged singing Carney’s praises, and vowing to work to eliminate remaining internal trade barriers, to consult with Indigenous leaders, to streamline their own provincial permitting processes and where possible co-operate with Ottawa to assign major projects a single environmental impact assessment, under the rubric of “one-project, one-review” that Carney has been touting. Carney, for his part, said the federal government will introduce legislation to eliminate federal barriers to internal trade and to establish a Major Federal Projects Office with the stated mandate to reduce approvals time for designated “nation-building” resource and infrastructure projects from five years to two.

He also endorsed the possible approval, and even federal support for, a future oil pipeline project that could bring oilsands exports from Alberta to tidewater — whether via the West in northwest B.C. or the East to ports in Churchill as long as it carries “decarbonized” barrels of Canadian oil to international markets, which Carney declared would be in the “national interest.”