Canadian premiers pledge ‘economic reconciliation’ with Indigenous people

Premier Doug Ford is hosting leaders from Canada’s Provinces and Territories for a three-day summit in Ontario cottage country.

While discussions are expected to focus on U.S. tariffs and inter-provincial trade, the first item on the agenda was discussions with indigenous groups.

Discussions about trade and tariffs are expected to ramp up tomorrow, when Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet the group in Huntsville to provide an update on negotiations with the United States. In the meantime, Carney met with a bi-partisan group of American senators in Ottawa Monday afternoon.

Canada’s premiers are pledging economic reconciliation with indigenous people, as they went into discussions with First Nations, Metis and Inuit groups this afternoon.

The meeting comes as indigenous communities have expressed concerns with federal and provincial laws meant to fast-track major infrastructure projects as a way to stimulate the economy impacted by tariffs, namely Ontario’s Bill 5, and the federal government’s Bill C-5.

A statement from the premier’s office calls the discussion “productive” and “focused on economic development and economic reconciliation, particularly in the face of president trump’s ongoing threat of tariffs.”

The conversation kicks off a three-day meeting for Canada’s premiers at a Deerhurst resort in Huntsville with expected focus to be on inter-provincial trade and U.S. tariffs.

READ MORE: Premiers to meet with Indigenous groups on first day of three-day Ontario gathering

“At the moment, this is really an unparalleled time in terms of of cooperation and good will between the provinces and federal government, and maintaining that momentum will be very important on numerous fronts, in terms of internal trade, in terms of forwarding projects of national significance, and also dealing with the Americans and the economic fallout of tariffs,” says Charles Bird, the Principal of Earnscliffe Strategies.

Carney is joining the group on Tuesday following the new threat from President Trump of 35% tariffs imposed on August 1.

“This is usually a time when the provinces come up with a list of grievances against the federal government, feel the federal government should be doing more. This year, it seems to be much less based on confrontation,” says Peter Graefe, a Political Analyst from McMaster University.

Graefe says while we could see new provincial trade agreements signed, he also believes the premiers will use this meeting to push the feds on items like bail reform.

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“On things like bail reform, there continues to be differences between the provinces and federal government, or at least the provinces want action faster than the federal government is moving towards it. so it will also be interesting to see what is the provincial agenda against the federal government,” Graefe says.

That is something Carney has promised to discuss with premiers, following a question from CHCH News last week about recent gun violence in the City of Hamilton.

“We’ll be working with the provinces on that, I have a meeting with the premiers next week, this will be something we discuss. You can expect legislation by the fall,” Carney says.

In the meantime, Carney met with a bi-partisan delegation of U.S. senators today in Ottawa telling reporters simply that it was a “good meeting,” and that it was “fascinating.”

“We are four United States senators, democrats, republicans, here to talk about making sure that in the days ahead, we build on a productive economy for Canada and the United States,” says Ron Wyden, a senator for Oregon.

Wyden says Carney was receptive to his ideas to get there. Including strengthening the current trade agreement with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, passing a law to permanently get rid of the digital services tax and working out a deal specifically for trading softwood lumber.

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