Carney tells Inuit leaders his new major projects law ‘fully respects treaty rights'
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney told Inuit leaders that his government's major projects bill 'fully respects treaty rights' a week after several Indigenous leaders left a recent meeting with him in a state of frustration , saying their treaties were being undermined.
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On Thursday, Carney was taking part in a meeting of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, co-hosted by the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Natan Obed, in Inuvik, NWT, to discuss Bill C-5, known as the One Canadian Economy Act.
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In his opening remarks, the prime minister said he wanted to make 'absolutely clear' in the context of this forum on what the legislation could do and what it doesn't do.
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'I want to be clear, up front, that the act fully respects treaty rights, including modern treaties, the modern treaties with Inuit treaty organizations. It fully respects treaty-based environmental assessment processes,' he said.
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'In fact, those will be essential for anything that we move forward,' he added.
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Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty added: 'At the end of the day, treaties are above this law. They have to be respected, and that's always been the case with this bill.'
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According to the government of Canada's website, treaties are agreements made between the Crown, Indigenous groups that define rights and obligations. They include historic treaties and modern treaties, also called comprehensive land claim agreements.
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Treaties are enshrined in section 35 of the Constitution Act. In 2021, the Liberal government passed legislation to make sure all federal laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which relates to treaty rights.
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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak had raised some alarm bells about C-5 before it was tabled and passed in June, saying that the proposed bill suggested 'a serious threat' to the exercise of treaty rights by First Nations.
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The legislation, which was fast-tracked in Parliament to become law in late June, gives Carney's cabinet the authority to designate projects, such as pipelines, ports and highways, in the 'national interest' and speed up the federal approvals process.
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In response to criticism from Indigenous leaders who said they had not been properly consulted on the bill, Carney announced he would be holding three summits.
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