How Carney’s ‘build fast’ push is dividing Canada’s indigenous peoples | Business and Economy

Vancouver, Canada – Prime Minister Mark Carney, who unites Canadians by protecting the nation’s economy from the U.S., is hitting roadblocks as he approaches a year in office.

Indigenous peoples across Canada are deeply divided over Carney’s aggressive push to expand resource extraction and projects on their ancestral lands.

Some experts question how his government will advance its agenda while respecting indigenous rights enshrined in the country’s constitution.

March 14 will mark one year since Carney, the former head of Canada’s central bank, was sworn into office.

After last year’s election, his centrist Liberal Party formed a minority government with its highest popular vote in 40 years.

Key to Carney’s victory was his pledge to “stand strong” against US trade threats and promote Canada’s economic sovereignty, a firm approach the prime minister called “elbows up”.

“In the face of global trade changes … we will build bigger and build faster to create a stronger, more sustainable, more independent economy,” Carney said in a March 6 statement.

Part of that push was to create an office of major projects to speed up the approval of economic developments, starting with fast-tracking 10 mega-projects.

They include two massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants and an open pit mine in British Columbia, a nuclear plant in Ontario, a Quebec shipping terminal and wind power in Atlantic Canada.

Those developments are worth 116 billion Canadian dollars ($85bn), the government estimates.

‘Our rights are pushed aside’

According to recent opinion polls, Carney’s approach to the US trade war has garnered support from Canadians.

A March 3 survey of 1,500 citizens by Abacus Data found that 50 percent said they feel Canada’s core interests are being protected in dealing with Trump — compared with 36 percent with negative views.

“Whenever Canada is threatened, the nature of state defense re-emerges,” said Shadi Hafeez, an assistant politics professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Canada’s self-preservation is a priority.”

Hafeez, a research associate at the Yellowhead Institute, is a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg First Nation in Quebec.

He said there are growing concerns among his community and others about Carney’s effort to fast-track mega-projects across the country.

“For that to happen, Canada needs land and it needs resources, and it takes that land and resources from us,” Hafeez said.

The blowback was swift after Carney pledged to build a highly controversial oil pipeline to the West Coast in a late November deal signed with Alberta, Canada’s oil powerhouse.

Carney’s culture minister quickly resigned, declaring “no consultation” with indigenous nations and “significant environmental impacts”.

And the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), representing more than 600 local chiefs, unanimously passed an emergency resolution opposing the new pipeline.

“First Nations people, we stand with Canada against Trump’s illegal tariffs, but not at the expense of our rights,” AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinock told Al Jazeera in an interview. “If you want to fast track something, it’s better to make sure First Nations are being included right off the bat.

“Trying to sideswipe or sideline First Nations people when there are agreements between the provinces and the feds — they need to remember that First Nations are here … and they need to be respected on their own homelands.”

The rights of the country’s indigenous peoples are enshrined in the Canadian Constitution.

But often, in the name of national prosperity, “local communities suffer,” Hafeez said.

“When there is some emergency, our rights are pushed aside.”

But resistance to major projects is not universal.

The First Nations Natural Gas Alliance praised Carney’s “more aggressive” approach to developing energy resources compared with his predecessor.

But the group’s CEO, Karen Ogen, acknowledged there was a “highly charged environment” on such issues.

“First Nations communities continue to face significant socioeconomic barriers,” said the former chief of the Wetsuwet’n First Nation. “LNG and natural gas development are not just opportunities; they are a national imperative.

“Billions of dollars in savings benefits and revenues are flowing to First Nations.”

Call for collaboration on ‘all major projects’

The trade war with the U.S. has inspired and united many Canadians — but with little acknowledgment of the effects on local communities, said Sherrill Lightfoot, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.

Lightfoot is the Vice-Chair of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“These plans, by many accounts, are moving forward without full consultation or transparency,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Economic or geopolitical pressures … appear to be being used to justify bypassing indigenous rights and environmental safeguards.”

But Canada’s Major Projects Office insists on “continuing to seek input, listen to concerns and ideas and partner” with Indigenous communities — and “not skip key project steps, including consultation with Indigenous peoples,” an agency spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

“We are unlocking Canada’s economic potential, respecting our environmental responsibilities and the rights of Indigenous peoples”

A significant number of projects on Carney’s fast-track list are concentrated in British Columbia (BC).

These include two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on the Pacific coast – LNG Canada and Ksi Lisims LNG – as well as an electricity transmission line to power the sector, and a copper and gold mine.

BC The country is unique because, historically, much of its land has been subject to treaties between the Crown and First Nations. Canada’s highest court has repeatedly ruled in favor of First Nations rights and title in the Western Territory.

All four of the province’s major projects have proven divisive among the region’s indigenous peoples — despite having the support of several individual First Nations governments.

One of them is the massive Ksi Lisims LNG plant, in which the Nisgaa Nation is a direct partner.

Co-developed with Texas-based Western LNG, the mega-project “will benefit all Canadians,” said Nisgaa president Eva Clayton.

In 2000, her nation became the first in BC to reach a modern self-government agreement.

“We are co-developing the Ksi Lisims LNG project on land owned by our nation under our agreement,” he told a parliamentary committee on February 24.

“The project is expected to bring 30 billion (Canadian) dollars ($22bn) in investment, create thousands of skilled careers and strengthen Canada’s leadership in low-emissions LNG.”

‘Elbows’ face opposition

But LNG is fiercely opposed by other nearby First Nations.

Tara Marsden is Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyov hereditary chiefs, the traditional leaders of the 900-member Gitanyov community.

“We have a lot of concern and evidence of impacts in our region,” he said.

“The federal government has done zero consultation on their fast-track list and the plans that actually affect our region.”

Gitanyow opposes BC projects on the fast track list that harm their interests.

He said Ottawa cannot ignore First Nations opposition, despite support from others such as Nisga’a.

“They have the right to develop in their own areas”, Marsden said. “But if you have maybe 20 to 30 First Nations crossing their territory — and you get maybe three — that’s not a resounding consensus.

“They’re trying to steamroll these small handful of nations over everyone else.”

If Canada really wants to strengthen its sovereignty and economy, it must do so with indigenous peoples, he said.

“This is something First Nations across the country have been saying since Carney took the ‘elbows up’ approach,” Marsden said.

“The government has really ignored that … and is actually now holding back these mega-projects with taxpayer dollars.”

Free, prior and informed consent

Julian Karagusian, a lecturer in economics at McGill University, served for decades at the Department of Finance and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.

He acknowledged that most Canadians support Carney’s efforts to boost the economy with “nation-building” projects.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” he told Al Jazeera. “But we are committed to consultation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit people.

“Once we start compromising on economic and social justice … we can create bitterness. I hope First Nations leaders understand the situation we’re in and (Ottawa) can work with them.”

Lightfoot said even in projects approved by some First Nations, the international legal principle of “free, prior and informed consent” should still apply to other affected communities.

That’s “not simply a procedural requirement” for rubber-stamp projects, he said.

“It is a substantive right grounded in the self-determination of indigenous peoples and their ability to make decisions about matters affecting their lands, communities and futures.”

And no local consensus could risk slowing down Carney’s hopes to speed through the plans — potentially tying up a more divisive courtroom.

“Failure to include local knowledge and decision-making early in the process can undermine the fairness and legitimacy of project approvals,” Lightfoot said.

AFN’s national chief says Carney’s ratings are “mixed” among First Nations. A positive aspect is that his openness to meeting local leaders raises concerns.

But the prime minister’s economic promises depend on building “national interest” infrastructure on First Nations homelands, a relationship Woodhouse Nepinak said requires care.

“Carney is at a crossroads in his personal relationship with First Nations,” he said.

“And we understand that the rights of First Nations are being threatened in new ways by this government.”