Overview
- Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Indigenous portfolio ministers Mandy Gull-Masty, Rebecca Alty and Rebecca Chartrand addressed chiefs in Ottawa, arguing Budget 2025 contains measures that would benefit First Nations.
- National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak countered that the fiscal plan falls short, citing unmet needs in infrastructure and education for First Nations communities.
- Energy Minister Tim Hodgson was removed from the speaking agenda, with his office attributing the change to federal organizers; he met B.C. chiefs offstage, after which an Indigenous resource lawyer said he was not satisfied with the minister’s responses.
- AFN chiefs unanimously passed a resolution pressing the federal government to rescind the Canada–Alberta pipeline agreement and to uphold the tanker ban on the northern B.C. coast.
- The agreement conditions Ottawa’s support on a national-interest approval and opportunities for Indigenous co-ownership, as Prime Minister Mark Carney continued outreach to chiefs and some leaders from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 expressed openness to ownership while Hodgson apologized for a prior “It’s called Zoom” remark.