"On behalf of our BC Chiefs delegation, I'd like to first acknowledge Anishinaabe Algonquin territories. Prime Minister Carney, thank you for meeting with us today.
204 First Nations in BC. Three minutes of your time.
We stand here, with time constraints and last-minute arrangements. This condensed and curated dialogue is wholly inadequate.
It has been 18 months since you were elected as Canada's Prime Minister, yet drinking water advisories persist. Specific Claims remain outstanding. Major projects, 40% of which are proposed in our territories, are being greenlit without any meaningful consultation with First Nations, despite your explicit commitment to uphold our free, prior and informed consent. Under your watch, it has been 546 days without a children and families final settlement agreement. Your government also continues to push back on ending sex-based discrimination in the Indian Act. Your government failed to criminalize Indian Residential School denialism and address the rise in anti-Indigenous racism. Since the UN Declaration Act was passed in 2021, your government has not aligned any new or existing legislation.
Prime Minister, these are not isolated failures. Cumulatively, they threaten to set First Nations-Crown relations back decades. In fact, your government can expect legal challenges against the Project of National Interest designation of the Pacific Link pipeline from First Nations in BC.
You once stated, “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Mr. Carney, despite repeated calls, we are not at the table. But make no mistake -- our people, our lands, and our waters will not be on the menu. Federal response to the Trump administration will not be at the expense of our inherent Title, Rights and Treaty Rights through fast-tracked, streamlined and overriding powers in federal legislation.
Prime Minister, you must course correct.
Your government must work with us in a meaningful manner that upholds our Title and Rights and the UN Declaration. Hear us when we say: Recognition and respecting our Rights is a Project of National Interest, and the implementation of the UN Declaration, along with your Constitutional obligations, is a project of national interest.
To this end, Prime Minister Carney, you must commit to meeting with all 204 First Nations in BC to undertake the necessary Nation-to-Nation work required to advance our priorities."