Assembly of First Nations regional chiefs will join premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney for a rare meeting in late October – the first such meeting between chiefs and first ministers in decades.
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chiefs → join → decades
A source shared details of a Wednesday planning meeting held by the Assembly of First Nations on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss it.
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they → share → it
The premiers, Carney and First Nations representatives are set to meet in Ottawa on Oct. 26, just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments’ major projects agenda.
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tensions → set → agenda
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has invited premiers and Carney to a daylong ceremony ahead of the October meeting.
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Nepinak → invite → meeting
She told The Canadian Press last week that First Nations leaders want to bring their own cultural practices to that meeting and she hopes all premiers accept the invitation.
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premiers → tell → invitation
The meeting was promised by Carney earlier this year.
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meeting → promise → Carney
Woodhouse Nepinak and her predecessors have for years been calling for First Nations representation at meetings between the prime minister and the premiers.
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Nepinak → call → minister
Those calls got louder last year when the federal and provincial governments started discussing among themselves ways to fast-track major infrastructure projects.
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governments → get → projects
Woodhouse Nepinak has said the meeting will be a “big test” of Canada’s ability to reconcile economic growth with First Nations rights.
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meeting → say → rights
Topics up for discussion at the meeting include long-term political governance – including rights and treaties, jurisdiction, health care, policing and land – economic partnerships and prosperity, the source told The Canadian Press.
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source → include → Press
An additional 44 First Nations leaders are invited to attend, including one youth representative and representatives from Treaties 6, 7 and 8.
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leaders → invite → Treaties
The Assembly of First Nations is calling for those 44 entry passes to be interchangeable so they can accommodate a larger number of leaders.
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they → call → leaders
While the meeting will be livestreamed, it’s not clear if that livestream will be available for public viewing, as the AFN has requested.
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AFN → livestreame → viewing
The location of the meeting has not yet been made public.
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location → make → meeting
The AFN and the federal government will only say it will be somewhere in Ottawa.
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it → say → Ottawa
The AFN is a national advocacy body that takes its direction from some 630 First Nations chiefs through special and annual general assemblies.
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that → take → assemblies
It is not a rights-holding institution but it represents rights-holding chiefs.
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it → hold → chiefs
Carney and his cabinet met with First Nations chiefs last July in Gatineau, Que.
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Carney → meet → Gatineau
It was a tightly controlled meeting and chiefs were asked to send their questions about the major project agenda in advance.
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chiefs → control → advance
Media were barred from the meeting site and First Nations leaders, including Woodhouse Nepinak, had to engage with reporters outside in the summer heat.
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leaders → bar → heat
The AFN called for the entire meeting to be made public and Woodhouse Nepinak later apologized for having to hold a press conference outside the meeting location.
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Nepinak → call → location
In early August, the Privy Council Office told The Canadian Press it was working with the Assembly of First Nations, modern treaty groups and self-governing First Nations on planning the meeting with first ministers.
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it → tell → ministers
“The meeting aims to advance nation-to-nation and government-to-government relations and will provide an opportunity to work together to address priorities of shared interest,” spokesperson Pierre Cuguen wrote in an e-mailed statement.
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Cuguen → aim → statement
Cuguen said at the time discussions about representation at the meeting were ongoing.
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discussions → say → meeting
The Aporia
