Territory No. 5 Territory, Thompson, Manitoba – Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Inc.). Grand Chief Garrision Settee has called on Prime Minister Mark Carney, Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty to ensure that Bill C-5 includes provisions for Canada to establish enforceable terms and conditions for national interest projects to ensure recognition of Treaty rights and the equitable sharing of project benefits and revenues.
“Ultimately, any ‘One Canadian Economy’ legislation that is drafted and introduced by Government and enacted by the Parliament of Canada must include provisions for Canada to establish, monitor and enforce conditions to require the protection and meaningful exercise of the acknowledged rights of First Nations,” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee stated in a June 13, 2025 letter to the Prime Minister and Privy Council President.
Attached to the letter of the MKO Grand Chief is the detailed May 30, 2025 thirteen-page submission to the Privy Council Office in response to an invitation from the Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate
Secretary to the Cabinet for MKO to provide comments on the proposed “One Canadian Economy” legislation with just seven days notice.
“MKO is very concerned that Bill C-5 is intended to suspend or set aside much of the national framework of safeguards for project review, Crown-First Nation consultations, and licencing conditions. These safeguards have been developed in Canada in response to decisions of the courts and reflect the ‘lessons learned’ through decades of industrial and energy infrastructure development and operations, particularly those projects which disproportionately affect Indigenous Peoples and communities such as Manitoba Hydro’s,” added Grand Chief Settee.
The MKO Grand Chief continued, “it is the direct experience of MKO that provincial processes cannot be relied upon by Canada or First Nations as a proxy or alternative to enforceable terms and conditions imposed by Canada to ensure the faithful performance of the Crown’s Treaty and constitutional obligations to First Nations or to ensure the meaningful accommodation and mitigation of adverse socio-economic and environmental effects as these affect First Nations.”
“MKO is concerned by the Government motion to fast-track Bill C-5 through Parliament. MKO will urgently be sharing with Members of Parliament and the Senate of Canada our real-world experiences with the significant gaps between the Crown’s promises to First Nations and the on-the-ground realities of major project and resource developments over the past 70 years in northern Manitoba. Bill C-5 must include provisions to ensure that these gaps are addressed and conclusively closed in approvals of national interest projects”, concluded Grand Chief Settee.
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