Carney opens the door to moving beyond the Indian Act as First Nations rally against Bill C-39

By The Canadian Chronicle · Wednesday, October 28, 2026

News · The Canadian Chronicle

Published Wednesday, October 28, 2026 · Last updated Wednesday, October 28, 2026

At the first dedicated First Nations–First Ministers' meeting in more than 20 years, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday he is "very open" to reforming or abolishing the Indian Act in partnership with First Nations. The chiefs' organizations had already told his government to withdraw Bill C-39, its fast-track projects bill — and today that fight moved into the streets of Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg.

Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, was introduced on September 21 and would rewrite several federal laws to shorten approvals for major projects. It sets a one-year legislative timeline for federal reviews and decisions, consolidates Crown consultation into a single process, and creates "Regions of National Interest" where projects can be pre-approved or accelerated after a regional assessment. The bill has passed second reading in the House of Commons and is being studied by a special Senate committee rather than through the usual standing-committee review, with royal assent possible as early as December, according to First Peoples Law's analysis of the bill. The government says the changes bring speed and certainty while upholding Indigenous rights.

The opposition is on the record and it is not quiet. On October 8, the Chiefs of Ontario, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, the BC Assembly of First Nations and Nishnawbe Aski Nation jointly rejected the bill and called on Canada to withdraw it, arguing that the section 35 duty to consult cannot be sidelined to meet federal timelines and that free, prior and informed consent cannot be squeezed into a preset schedule. Critics note the bill makes no mention of UNDRIP or of free, prior and informed consent at all. In Senate questioning, ministers answered that the government received 403 submissions from Indigenous groups and rights holders and held more than 30 meetings on the bill.

The Indian Act thread runs alongside the bill, not inside it. At Monday's meeting in Ottawa, Carney called the 1876 Act racist and anachronistic and directed his ministers to work in partnership with First Nations to chart a path beyond it, the Prime Minister's Office said. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called for the Act's repeal and held up his own status card. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak answered that the Act still holds protections, that the decision belongs to First Nations, and that many were caught off guard. By Tuesday, Carney was adding that the new review process won't necessarily lead to abolishing the law.

Today the argument left the meeting rooms. Rallies organized under Idle No More 2.0's National Week of Action for Indigenous Sovereignty were held in Toronto — noon to 1 p.m. at Asquith Green Park — as well as Ottawa, Winnipeg and Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The Indigenous, labour and environmental coalition behind the Toronto rally says the bill subordinates Indigenous participation, environmental scrutiny and workers' rights to government and industry timelines.

Commentary · The Canadian Chronicle

Two fights, one question underneath both: who decides, and where. A one-year clock on consultation is a decision about who holds the pen before the talking starts. If the Indian Act's future and the rules for major projects are to change, the case for changing them should be made in Parliament, in the open, where every Canadian can watch it happen — not settled inside a process whose timelines were fixed in advance.