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AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks to reporters following a meeting of Indigenous leaders with Canada's premiers at the Council of the Federation meeting in Charlottetown on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
By The Canadian Press

Indigenous leaders meet premiers on sidelines of national meeting in P.E.I.

Jul 21, 2026 | 1:35 PM

OTTAWA — The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says she thinks premiers are finally starting to get the message that First Nations can’t be left out of discussions on major projects and building up the Canadian economy.

“It seems like there’s a little bit of a shift,” Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press after she wrapped up a meeting with premiers on Tuesday.

“In order to move this country along, we’re going to have to work more closely together.”

Provincial and territorial leaders are assembled in Charlottetown this week for the annual Council of the Federation meeting.

Indigenous leaders met with premiers on the sidelines of the Council of the Federation conference Tuesday. They said they came to deliver a message — that Indigenous voices must be part of the conversation as provincial and federal governments pursue major projects and a new trade deal with the U.S.

Indigenous leaders typically meet with the premiers ahead of their official meetings — something Woodhouse Nepinak has compared to being relegated to the “kiddie table.”

First Nations chiefs have secured their own meeting with premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney, set for this October, after years of demanding one.

Woodhouse Nepinak said that while the premiers committed to attending that meeting, she wants them to promise that it won’t be the last.

Victoria Pruden, president of the Métis National Council, said Métis ought to have their own meeting with Carney and relevant premiers to discuss the major projects agenda and the impact of U.S. tariffs on Métis businesses.

“We recognize that trade policy is led by Canada and provinces and territories. We want to be collaborative and supportive partners in this process, and be part of the solution as Canada faces these unprecedented challenges,” she told reporters in Charlottetown.

Speaking with The Canadian Press afterward, Pruden said the meeting was productive but a two-and-a-half hour discussion with premiers isn’t long enough for real progress.

“We had some interesting conversations and some unexpected ones,” she said.

“But we have to seize the opportunity when we can have frank and authentic conversations with premiers and continue to enhance our relationships and dialogue.”

Pruden said Indigenous leaders should have a larger presence at these meetings and is looking to Premier R.J. Simpson of the Northwest Territories to open those doors when he chairs the premiers’ gathering next year.

“We’ll see if there’s a little bit more room perhaps for co-development, and what happens there in terms of Indigenous engagement in a meaningful and not so rushed way,” she said.

Woodhouse Nepinak said she tabled with premiers two resolutions that were passed unanimously at the Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa last week.

Those resolutions say First Nations chiefs will oppose any actions by federal and provincial governments to expedite major projects that would undermine their rights and environmental protections.

“I really hope they consider that,” she said, adding that premiers need to be working with First Nations “even if they have a thought of a project.”

Woodhouse Nepinak said leaders also discussed health care and addictions, the growing infrastructure gap in First Nations communities and education and trades development for youth.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press