OTTAWA – Ottawa asked First Nations chiefs to submit their questions in advance of their meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney next week to discuss his government’s controversial major projects bill.
Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws.
Carney promised to meet with First Nations after chiefs said their rights were not respected by the rush to push the bill through Parliament.
But the invitation to the July 17 meeting shared with The Canadian Press shows the government is giving chiefs until July 16 to submit questions they want answered and that they will have the option to vote on which questions will be posed by their peers.
The invitation says that process will help highlight “shared priorities and bring the most pressing issues to the forefront.”
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said Friday that chiefs are “united” ahead of the meeting and are still alarmed at the way the legislation was pushed through Parliament with little input from First Nations.
“First Nations are united in an understanding that we have always supported economic development and prosperity for all, but not at the expense of our rights or responsible environmental stewardship,” Woodhouse Nepinak said.
The Assembly of First Nations met Thursday to discuss the bill and the upcoming meeting with the federal government.
Woodhouse Nepinak said during that meeting that while “some important amendments have been made” to the legislation — including one removing a clause that would have allowed Ottawa to sidestep the Indian Act — not enough was done to quell First Nations’ concerns.
She pointed to an amendment posed by Sen. Paul Prosper to include language on free, prior and informed consent in the legislation. The amendment did not pass.
Sen. Prosper said he’s “worried about how future governments will use this law” and whether the next economic crisis might give them cover to sidestep laws again.
“I’m worried about the process (being) repeated in the future, when the next big emergency happens,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2025.
