Image for National Day of Action.
The Canadian Press reports: “The [provincial] premiers, [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney and First Nations representatives [mostly regional chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations] are set to meet in Ottawa on Oct. 26, just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments’ major projects agenda.”
Another Canadian Press article notes: “Chiefs are set to meet with Carney and the country’s premiers in Ottawa later this month, and major projects are expected to be a major topic of debate.”
Those major projects include the Pacific Link oil pipeline (on Secwepemc territory), the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline (on Gitanyow and Gitxsan territory), and LNG Canada Phase 2 (on Wet’suwet’en territory).
The first article explains: “There will be 28 seats in the main meeting room [at the John G. Diefenbaker Building at 111 Sussex Drive] — one for the prime minister, one for the national chief [Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak], 13 for provincial and territorial leaders and 13 for First Nations representatives.”
Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks, whose lands and waters would be impacted by LNG Canada Phase 2, tells APTN News that he has not been invited to this meeting but: “I want to attend and I may attend.”
The Canadian Press further notes: “Topics up for discussion at the meeting include long-term political governance — including rights and treaties, jurisdiction, health care, policing and land — economic partnerships and prosperity.”
National Day of Action
In response, a National Day of Action is being organized by a coordinating group of Tori Cress (Anishinaabe), Russ Diabo (Kahnawake Mohawk), Kanahus Manuel (Secwepemc and Ktunaxa), Tarek Maussili (Cree), Rolland Pangowish (Anishinabe), Rachel Snow (Iyahe Nakoda) and Suzanne Smoke (Anishinaabe).
The Truth Before Reconciliation Education & Advocacy Network website provides information about this National Day of Action.
That website warns: “This meeting could lock in municipal-style governance, focus only on services (water, policing, social issues), and ignore land, Treaties, sovereignty, and real self-determination. If the meeting only talks about ‘services’, we lose ground.”
And it highlights three demands: “1) Recognition and Respect for Aboriginal Title, Inherent Rights, and Treaties. 2) A New Policy Framework based on Nation-to-Nation relations, not federal delegation. 3) Restoration and Restitution for lands and resources taken without consent.”
The “Statement of Support for the October 26, 2026 National Day of Action” declares that “colonial governments will not write the future for our collective First Nations”. Signatories to that statement include Bridget Tolley, Sylvia Macadam, Sheelah Mclean, and Roseanne Archibald.
We continue to follow this.
Additional reading
–What could the Bill C-39 promise of speed for major projects mean for Indigenous land and environmental defenders? (PBI-Canada, September 22, 2026)
–Indigenous leaders and journalist association concerned by the continued delay in the release of the CRCC report on the RCMP C-IRG (PBI-Canada, September 25, 2026).
National day of action poster.
