Indigenous leaders outline priorities for spring sitting of Parliament

From clean drinking water legislation to self-government and better infrastructure, Indigenous leaders say they're looking for action from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government.

Indigenous leaders were braced for change after the last federal election, when Prime Minister Mark Carney’s win ushered in a new look for the Liberal government after 10 years under Justin Trudeau.

That change has compelled those leaders to build relationships with new cabinet ministers and a revolving cast of public servants working on Indigenous files.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders have a long list of priorities they want the federal government to work on, including the introduction of a series of bills on self-government and clean drinking water.

Here’s what they’ll be watching for.

First Nations

At the Assembly of First Nations assembly last December, Carney promised to hold a meeting between First Nations leaders, the federal government and premiers.

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and her predecessors have been calling for such a meeting for a long time. The last one occurred during the Kelowna Accord talks in 2005.

Woodhouse Nepinak said a meeting is “long overdue.” She called for cross-jurisdictional work to address long-standing socioeconomic gaps between First Nations and Canadians, to reconcile the country’s push to develop major projects with the need to respect First Nations rights, and to discuss separatist threats in Quebec and Alberta.