Prime Minister Carney says it’s time to move ‘beyond’ the Indian Act

OTTAWA — A historic meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney, premiers and First Nations was meant to build bridges between communities and work out issues related to major projects development, the respecting of rights, health and public safety amid rising tensions.

But it ended with calls from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew to abolish the controversial Indian Act, and agreement from Carney something must be done about the legislation from 1876 that governs First Nations — something protestors outside the Ottawa venue were warning about before the announcement was even made, and something likely to generate heated debate.

Carney said he will instruct his ministers to work with First Nations to move Canada beyond the Indian Act, which he said could mean reforming it or abolishing it altogether. He said changes would only be made in partnership with First Nations leadership.

The Indian Act gives Ottawa sweeping powers over First Nations communities and people, including by defining who qualifies for recognition, what reserves can and can’t do, dismantles traditional forms of governance and, at one point, outlawed ceremonial practices.

It even governs First Nations people after death, with the Indigenous Services minister required to approve of wills for people living on reserve, or to void them altogether if they see fit.

While there is a general consensus among First Nations chiefs the legislation is outdated and restrictive, there is little consensus on if it should repealed, and, if it is, what takes its place. There is broad support, however, for changing rules on how the Indian Act determines who qualifies for status, but the federal government and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty have not committed to changing registration rules.

Earlier in the day, Kinew told reporters during a break in the meeting that Canada needs a relationship between First Nations and the government “that reflects who Indigenous people are as Canadians.”

Kinew, a member of Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation, held up his own status card and said abolishing the Indian Act should be high on the national political agenda, and that he received an “open-minded reception” from leadership in the closed-door meeting when he made the pitch.

“The suggestion of reforming, potentially abolishing and fully modernizing governance, is that a process, co-developed, needs to be put in place, and the federal government is open to that process,” Carney said.

Carney echoed Kinew’s remarks that the idea of abolishing or modernizing the Indian Act was discussed openly in the room — and an idea he was similarly “very open to.”

“Not everybody, but other participants raised the desirability. So it’s already starting from the right place in that it’s not the federal government deciding something should be done. It’s responding to a request,” Carney said.

“I think this was the spirit of this meeting — certainly the spirit I took — the ability to sit down together and develop that co-development, gives me hope that we can we can finally move forward from this.”

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said there are some protections in the Indian Act for First Nations, and First Nations should be able to decide how to move forward.

“Look, that’s a question that was just posed today in the room among First Nations. Some First Nations; others would be very reserved,” Woodhouse Nepinak.

“But there is, you know, a diversity of First Nations from coast to coast to coast, where in every province and territory in this beautiful country that we all share. And that question is going to be up to them to decide.”

Protestors outside the venue were warning that their representatives in the meeting, who were largely made up of regional chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations, would inappropriately discuss First Nations rights without a mandate from community members.

Mohawk policy analyst and protest organizer Russ Diabo has frequently accused the Assembly of First Nations of working toward Indian Act abolition with the federal government. Asked about Woodhouse Nepinak telling the room in her opening remarks she has a mandate from chiefs to discuss rights, Diabo said the AFN charter does not represent the grassroots.

“Our traditional governments are direct democracies where the people are involved in decision-making,” Diabo told The Canadian Press on the sidewalk in front of the Diefenbaker Building..

“What we should be returning to is traditional forms of government which involve people in decision making, otherwise we see manipulation happening all the time.”

After Kinew’s remarks, Diabo said governments were already working on abolishing it without consent.

The chief of Onion Lake Cree Nation, which reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Assembly of First Nations ahead of the meeting to make clear the body does not represent his community or negotiate on its behalf, expressed concern about the future of the Indian Act.

“First Nations must determine their own path toward self-determination. That cannot be a process designed in Ottawa and presented to our nations for approval. It must be developed with us, respect our treaty relationships and proceed only with our free, prior and informed consent,” Chief Pete Chief said in a media statement.

“But that future must be determined by First Nations themselves, not dictated by the federal government or negotiated on our behalf by organizations we have not authorized to represent us.”

First Nations chiefs are frequently critiqued by members of their community when they meet with premiers or Carney behind closed doors.

Asked about those critiques already forming online regarding talk of Indian Act abolition, Woodhouse Nepinak said First Nations should be able to determine for themselves how they’re governed.

“I know those conversations are hard to have, but if we don’t have them, you’ll see the disputes,” she said.

Lawyer Pam Palmater likened the talks of abolishment to the Stephen Harper era, saying the federal government would love nothing more than to drop its fiduciary and treaty obligations to First Nations.

“Saw this coming with Carney’s conservative extractive agenda,” Palmater wrote on social media.

Monday’s closed-door meeting is the first such gathering since the Kelowna Accord talks of 2005, which brought premiers and then-prime minister Paul Martin together with Indigenous leaders to discuss ways to close the socioeconomic gaps in Indigenous communities.

The Kelowna agreement was not implemented after the Conservative government under former prime minister Stephen Harper took office just a few months later.

This meeting came as Carney’s government works to speed up major project approvals and development — efforts some First Nations chiefs say threaten their rights.

Jeronimo Kataquapit, who was protesting the major projects push outside the meeting venue in Ottawa, chided the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations over the lack of youth representation at the meeting.

“These major projects cannot move forward without our free, prior and informed consent, and it’s the youth that stand to be the most impacted by the decisions made today by all leadership, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike,” Kataquapit said from the sidewalk in front of the Diefenbaker Building.

Protester Katisha Paul, an advocate for youth and women, questioned the Assembly of First Nations’ mandate to negotiate on First Nations’ behalf.

“I’m not in that room today but I can imagine and speculate that the voices of our ancestors are not being heard, they’re not being voiced and they’re not being amplified because many of those elected band council chiefs have lost their ways,” Paul said.

Tensions between Ottawa and First Nations spiked soon after Carney was elected in 2025 when his government passed legislation to create a new office tasked with streamlining major project developments and approving projects within one year.

First Nations leaders warned the compressed timelines would interfere with their rights and lead to court challenges. Provincial governments have enacted similar legislation.

But tensions are boiling over for a number of other reasons as well, including the lands claim process in British Columbia, the newly announced Pacific Link pipeline project in Alberta and development of the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in Ontario. In many cases, it’s youth who are pushing back on First Nations leaders, the premiers and prime minister.

Carney said Monday in his opening remarks it’s “sobering” to consider that this is the first meeting to bring together federal, provincial and First Nations leaders in two decades.

“Our task is twofold. First is to work together to create opportunities for all our peoples, while building a country that is stronger, more sovereign and more independent,” he said.

“And secondly, our task is to live our values fully of a fair and inclusive Canada.”

While some First Nations are opposed to Carney’s development agenda and those of the provinces, others are open to the idea of increasing economic activity in their territories.

Nisga’a Nation President Eva Clayton told reporters ahead of the meeting she supports Carney’s plans and that she and other modern treaty holders are at the meeting to support Canada.

Chiefs in the meeting room told reporters the talks behind closed doors were constructive and that they felt their voices were heard, but that they wanted more action on actively involving their communities in the Natural Resources Transfer Acts. That call was pushed for by former Assembly of First Nations national chief Matthew Coon Come.

The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations said in a media release after the meeting it failed to live up to its potential.

“The structure, format and agenda of this meeting were solely reflective of federal and provincial interest,” Regional Chief Terry Teegee said.

“The prime minister and premiers have an obligation to meet directly with First Nations to engage in reciprocal dialogue on issues of shared importance, not simply those items which align with this government’s priorities.”

After the meeting, Carney committed to looking into a First Nations sovereign wealth fund that would allow for communities to invest in major projects in an easier way, funding for First Nations policing and improving First Nations health.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026.

— With files from Nick Murray

By Alessia Passafiume and Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press