Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government can only facilitate its major projects and local infrastructure agenda in partnership with First Nations.
Carney reached out for that support today in remarks to the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs assembly in Ottawa.
“This approach must be informed by and can only move forward with First Nations,” he said in prepared remarks released ahead of his speech.
“We will build in partnership by upholding Indigenous rights and building in ways that First Nations communities have greater security and prosperity.”
The Prime Minister also said his government is committed to ending the remaining 38 drinking water advisories on reserves in Canada and allocated $2.3-billion for that purpose in the recent federal budget.
He said solutions will be a key agenda item at the first ministers’ meeting with First Nations he plans to convene early in the new year.
Carney signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta last week that pledges political support for a bitumen pipeline from the oil sands to the B.C. coast.
The project would have to meet certain conditions, including a private-sector proponent and Indigenous support.
The AFN is hosting the special chiefs assembly from today to Thursday. The organization, led by National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, advocates on behalf of more than 630 communities.
In other news, Willow Fiddler and Emily Haws report that First Nations chiefs at the gathering passed an emergency resolution earlier today rejecting any proposed exemptions to the federal ban on oil tankers off the northern coast of British Columbia, even though the Ottawa-Alberta MOU could see the prohibition modified if a pipeline were approved.
The AFN resolution also calls for the “immediate withdrawal of the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding and any project contemplated or designated under the agreement that may infringe First Nations’ rights, including the right to self-determination.”
And Stephanie Levitz reports that Marc Miller, newly returned to cabinet, says his colleagues must meet face-to-face with Indigenous communities to discuss the prospects of a new pipeline – and that work is already behind schedule.
“If everyone thought Thursday was difficult, that was probably the easiest day in the life of that pipeline,” Miller told reporters today on his way into his first cabinet meeting since being sworn in as Culture Minister yesterday.
Thursday was the day Ottawa and Alberta signed their MOU.
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Former Quebec Liberal house leader punted from caucus: Pablo Rodriguez, the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, has booted Marwah Rizqy from caucus, saying she has broken his trust.
Ontario isn’t auditing doctors for excessive claims, Auditor-General finds: When the Ontario Ministry of Health does identify inappropriate billings, it often negotiates settlements that allow doctors to repay less than what they overbilled, Shelley Spence found in her annual report, released today.
Competition bureau head exiting: Matthew Boswell says he will end his term on Dec. 17 for personal reasons, ahead of his planned end date of February, 2026.
Delays for federal disability benefit: Canadians with disabilities are often waiting months for the Canada Revenue Agency to review their applications for a tax credit that may make them eligible to receive a new federal benefit, as the agency struggles with a surge of applications.
Trump’s halting of asylum claims prompts fresh calls to suspend Safe Third Country Agreement: The agreement mandates that asylum seekers must make a claim in the first country they arrive in, which allows Canada to turn away potential refugee claimants who enter the country from the United States.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney chaired a meeting of cabinet, attended Question Period and delivered remarks at the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs assembly.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference in the House of Commons foyer today. In her Saanich-Gulf Islands riding, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was planning to attend Parliament virtually and later deliver remarks at the Islands Trust Council dinner. NDP Interim Leader Don Davies met with representatives of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association and later attended a parliamentary reception for the Assembly of First Nations. No schedule released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
New diplomats: Governor-General Mary Simon will be receiving credentials from four new diplomats Wednesday, namely ambassadors from Timor-Leste, Iceland, Montenegro and the Central African Republic.
Quote of the Day
“Again, Parliament is a – it’s like Forrest Gump said: It’s like a box of chocolates.” — Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon, ahead of today’s cabinet meeting, responds to a question about Green Party Leader Elizabeth May saying that voting for the federal budget was a mistake.
Question period
For how long did William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, keep diaries that are now available online?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Once too close to Trudeau for a Carney cabinet, Marc Miller is back
More than eight months have passed and it’s now safe to bring friends of Justin Trudeau back into the cabinet.
— Campbell Clark, chief political writer
The UCP is a party with concerns wildly divergent from those of Albertans at large
Ms. Smith must sell a new direction for her government to UCP members and, more importantly, to the average Albertan. Judging from the events of the weekend AGM, there’s less and less overlap in the membership of those two groups.
— Kathy Kerr, freelance journalist
In Ottawa, the Heritage Department is a revolving door at best, a nuisance at worst
Now, more than ever, the Canadian arts community needs a trusted, experienced and dedicated advocate. Instead, Carney shuffled in another Trudeau loyalist without a particularly strong history of cultural advocacy, or really a history on that front at all. Out with the old, in with the even older.
— Barry Hertz, deputy arts editor
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
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The answer to today’s question: King, the Liberal prime minister in three terms spanning 22 years, kept diaries from 1893 until 1950, a few days before his death at age 75. He wrote his diaries by hand as of 1938 and later dictated them nightly to his secretary. There’s information on the diaries here.