Chiefs of Ontario say Ottawa acting unfairly in major projects meeting Thursday
Global News
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.
The Chiefs of Ontario say Ottawa is levelling an unfair playing field for chiefs in a meeting planned with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss the government’s controversial major projects legislation.
Carney promised in June that he would meet with First Nations after chiefs said their rights were not respected by the rush to push the bill through Parliament.
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.
An email was sent to chiefs on July 9 opening up registration for the meeting and the Chiefs of Ontario said it was initially able to register chiefs as well as legal advisers, technical and support staff to attend.
But a followup email a few days later confirmed the regional chief’s registration but denied the registration requests for all others.
“It’s disappointing that technical staff, experts and lawyers from organizations and First Nations who were going to attend this meeting were uninvited after they were allowed to register. They all spent money on travel and accommodations to support chiefs during this critical discussion,” the group representing 133 chiefs in the province said in a statement.
“This legislation has the potential to fundamentally change this country and it’s unrealistic and unfair that the government has technical staff and lawyers in the room, but chiefs will not have that support.”
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