Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi speaks after a meeting between chiefs and Premier Danille Smith on Thursday. Photo is a screen grab of a video posted to the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta Facebook page.

By Curtis Galbraith

First Nations

Treaty 8 chiefs pushing for province to address issues like health and sharing resource revenue

Jun 30, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Treaty 8 chiefs took some concerns to Premier Danielle Smith at a meeting on Thursday.

In a release from the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, they said those concerns included treaty rights to health, education and First Nations children; emergency management and crisis coordination; and resource revenue sharing and land jurisdiction.

Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi says while resources are extracted from First Nations land, no money comes back to those nations.

“We need that opportunity to take care of our own people, look after our own people, and this is the way to do it.”

“If they want to come to our nations and ask for the resources and have access to the resources, they have to be willing to have some of that share coming back to the nations.”

Mercredi says the government “should understand that there can be a working relationship” that works for the nations and the province.

“The day and age of only one side benefiting is long gone. We have to work together for the betterment of all our people in Canada and if our First Nations people are brought up to the level of the everyday Canadian, then maybe we can see some progress within our nations.”

Mercredi says they are putting together working groups between the chiefs and some provincial ministries. He adds he believes they got their message across “loud and clear”, but it is not yet known if the premier is up for more discussion.

Mercredi says First Nations are looking for help with basic needs and nations are currently “severely under funded ” under current agreements.

“The funding agreements don’t account for the growth and a lot of other metrics within our society when it comes to data and all these other things, so what we’re trying to do is just make sure that they understand that our issues can be rectified by this resource revenue sharing.”

Mercredi says a share of resource revenue would allow First Nations to provide services like health care.

He adds life expectancy for Indigenous people in Alberta is 18.5 years lower than other populations, and that gap is growing

“For us, that’s a serious issue. That’s a difference between a first world country and a third world country when we talk about life expectancy and how is it accepted today? How is it accepted by the Government of Canada, the Province of Alberta and the general public? How is that acceptable?”

Mercredi says the province likes to thin it owns all the resources but adds “Premier Smith and Alberta owns absolutely nothing.”

Mercredi also rejects talk of separation, saying people need to understand that “it cannot happen, and it will not happen.”

“For her (Smith) to keep pushing this idea forward is doing nothing for the Province of Alberta but hindering its progress. What kind of industry is going to come into a mess like Alberta is right now, with the premier talking about separation.”

Mercredi says the nations are willing to work with the province on things that benefit both Alberta and First Nations, adding the province “has to really look at the relationship we that have and improve on that relationship if they want to see any industrial projects move forward within Treaty 8 territory.”