Manitoba First Nations urge Ottawa to amend budget
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WINNIPEG — Some Indigenous leaders in Manitoba say there is still time for the federal government to amend Tuesday’s budget in order to get First Nations input and get money where it’s needed.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says the proposed budget loops First Nations infrastructure into other initiatives.
Wilson says that leaves leaders wondering whether cash previously set aside for communities has been allocated elsewhere.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says the proposed budget loops First Nations infrastructure into other initiatives, leaving leaders wondering whether cash previously set aside for communities has been allocated elsewhere. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)
The budget introduced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne did not break down funding between First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and it froze annual base funding for Indigenous health and social services and for treaty work.
Ottawa says that freeze amounts to a two per cent cut at a time when most federal agencies face a 15 per cent cut.
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Chief Gordon Bluesky says any cuts create further deficits and hardships, while other Indigenous groups like the Manitoba Métis Federation are praising the budget for sticking with past housing and child welfare pledges.
“We look forward to meeting with the prime minister to address our priorities and learn what is available to our citizens across the country,” federation President David Chartrand said Wednesday in a news release.
“As long as Canada continues to invest in us, we can continue to invest in Canada.”
Wilson is joining other leaders in arguing that there needs to be more distinction of specific funding for First Nations.
She told reporters Wednesday that such a distinction is critical, “given that (First Nations) have a treaty partnership with the Crown in which that is the very foundation of this country.”
Wilson said she understands the federal government is in a difficult position as it continues to respond to tariff disputes with the United States, but that First Nations leadership needs to be at the table with Canada when financial decisions are made.
She did applaud Ottawa’s commitment to resource development in the country, but only if those conversations include First Nations.
» The Canadian Press