AFN regional chiefs to join Carney and premiers for first First Ministers meeting in decades

The Story

Assembly of First Nations regional chiefs have been selected to represent First Nations at a rare meeting in Ottawa later this month between Prime Minister Mark Carney, provincial and territorial premiers, and First Nations leadership, described as the first such gathering between chiefs and first ministers in decades.

Planning details discussed at an Assembly of First Nations internal session indicate the meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Ottawa, aligning with a period of heightened scrutiny around a federal and provincial “major projects” agenda aimed at accelerating infrastructure delivery.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has invited premiers and Carney to a daylong ceremony ahead of the Oct. 26 meeting and said First Nations leaders want their own cultural practices to be brought into the proceedings; she also urged premiers to accept the invitation. Carney had promised the meeting earlier this year, and Woodhouse Nepinak and previous AFN leadership have long pushed for First Nations representation in meetings involving the prime minister and premiers.

The Oct. 26 meeting is expected to test whether Canada can balance economic growth objectives with First Nations rights, Woodhouse Nepinak has said. Topics identified for discussion include long-term political governance, with a focus on rights and treaties, jurisdiction, health care, policing and land, alongside economic partnership and prosperity.

According to planning information, there will be 28 seats in the main meeting room: one for the prime minister, one for the national chief, 13 for provincial and territorial leaders, and 13 for First Nations representatives. The First Nations seats in the main room are expected to be filled mostly by regional chiefs affiliated with the Assembly of First Nations.

In addition to the main-room seats, the AFN has invited 44 First Nations leaders to attend, including a youth representative and representatives from Treaties 6, 7 and 8. The AFN is requesting that entry passes be interchangeable so more leaders can be accommodated if needed.

The meeting is described as livestreamed, but it is not yet clear whether members of the public will be able to view the livestream directly; the AFN has asked for public availability. The location in Ottawa has also not yet been publicly released, with only broad confirmation from the AFN and the federal government that it will be somewhere in the city.

While the AFN is a national advocacy body that takes direction from roughly 630 First Nations chiefs through special and annual general assemblies, it is not itself a rights-holding institution; instead, it represents chiefs who hold rights. The upcoming meeting would continue a push dating back years for a governance format that includes First Nations representation directly in first-ministers-level discussions.

Carney and his cabinet met with First Nations chiefs last July in Gatineau, Quebec, in a tightly controlled format. Media were barred from the meeting site during that session, and chiefs—including Woodhouse Nepinak—had to interact with reporters outside. In that context, the AFN had called for the meeting to be made public, and Woodhouse Nepinak later apologized for having to hold a press conference outside the meeting location.

In early August, the federal Privy Council Office said it was working with the Assembly of First Nations, modern treaty groups and self-governing First Nations on planning the gathering. In an emailed statement at the time, a spokesperson said the meeting was intended to advance “nation-to-nation and government-to-government relations” and provide an opportunity for participants to address shared priorities.