Carney pledges First Nations safety funding and jointly developed reform
At an Ottawa summit, the prime minister announces emergency-response and policing commitments while rejecting unilateral changes to the Indian Act.
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Carney holds news conference at meeting with First Nations leaders, premiers
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- 1:25Economic proposals include a potential First Nations sovereign wealth fund and changes to fiscal-management legislation.
- 4:06Carney announces $260 million over four years for an Indigenous workforce-readiness fund.
- 7:33Emergency-response commitments include more than $2.5 billion over five years and $450 million in ongoing annual funding.
- 9:28Policing commitments include over $630 million over four years, continuing annual funding and separate crime-prevention support.
- 21:01Carney says Indian Act reform must be developed with First Nations leadership, not imposed unilaterally.
- 32:44Woodhouse Nepinak stresses self-determination amid differing views among chiefs about the Indian Act.
New funding for emergency response, policing and job preparation accompanied Prime Minister Mark Carney's pledge to reshape Canada's relationship with First Nations at an Ottawa meeting with Indigenous leaders and provincial premiers.
Canada's Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News) carries the full news conference following what Carney describes as the first dedicated First Nations-first ministers meeting in more than two decades. His announcements address three priorities: economic reconciliation, emergency preparedness and community safety, and First Nations policing.
For climate and disaster response on reserves, Carney announces more than C$2.5 billion over five years, followed by ongoing annual funding. He also outlines more than C$630 million over four years for policing, alongside continuing annual support and separate crime-prevention funding. A new Indigenous workforce-readiness fund would receive C$260 million over four years.
The economic proposals extend beyond training. Carney discusses a potential First Nations sovereign wealth fund, changes to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, loan guarantees and support for evaluating major projects. These are presented as ways to strengthen First Nations' participation in economic development, including resource partnerships.
The most sustained questioning concerns what comes after the Indian Act, the federal law governing many aspects of First Nations status, reserve lands and governance. Responding to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's proposal to reform or abolish it, Carney says: "I'm committed to a process that moves Canada beyond the Indian Act."
He later pushes back against the suggestion that Ottawa would impose abolition without consultation. Any reform process, he says, must be developed jointly with First Nations leadership. In French, he calls the law outdated, paternalistic and racist.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak emphasizes that chiefs hold differing views and that self-determination must guide the discussion. She points to further deliberations at the organization's December Special Chiefs Assembly. The conference sets out a commitment to a process, rather than announcing an agreed replacement for the law or a deadline for ending it.
Canada’s prime minister and Liberal Party leader since 2025. He previously headed the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
More on Wikipedia ›Premier of Manitoba since 2023 and leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party since 2017.
More on Wikipedia ›An organization of Canadian First Nations represented by their chiefs, established in 1982.
More on Wikipedia ›A Canadian First Nations politician who serves as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
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The numbers
The full news conference drew about 53,000 views since yesterday.
💡 Test your knowledge
Who speaks alongside Carney as Assembly of First Nations National Chief?
Woodhouse Nepinak answers questions about chiefs' differing views and First Nations self-determination.