Prime minister Mark Carney had his “summit” with First Nations leaders yesterday at the Canadian Museum of History, and it was a shambolic affair. Itineraries changed constantly, and the media were kicked out after Carney’s initial speech, before the AFN national chief could give her own speech, which she made a point of referencing. Leaders were promised time to engage with Carney and his ministers, and were instead simply told to talk amongst themselves. Carney did promise that this was “just the beginning,” and that there would be more focused regional consultations in the near future, but the whole thing didn’t really reassure a lot of those assembled chiefs (who were all Indian Act chiefs and not the hereditary chiefs who are in some cases the title holders). There was indeed a sense of frustration, and some chiefs walked out because of it.

Some of those chiefs from Alberta held a separate press conference with the assistance of Senator Prosper, and they noted that there was no proper consultation process on the meeting itself, that the attendees were hand-picked, and that this was largely political theatre to manufacture consent. Much of their comments focused on the fact that the treaties are not just box-ticking exercises, that they did not cede or surrender their lands, and that they have rights that must be respected—and more to the point, that in failing to live up to these obligations, the government is doing damage to the Honour of the Crown.

Afterward, Indigenous Services minister Mandy Gull-Masty tried to assure everyone that “national interest” included Indigenous people, and that projects can’t go ahead without Indigenous buy-in, but at the same time said that they can’t really discuss any specifics because they have to wait for the Major Projects Office to be stood-up, which they are hoping to do by Labour Day, and only then, when there are actual potential projects in the window could they properly engage with the rights-holders. But we are getting back into the “just trust us” territory, which traditionally has not gone very well for Indigenous people in this country.

Ukraine Dispatch

Here’s a look at how drone warfare is changing the front lines of the conflict. Russia and Ukraine exchanged more bodies of war dead.

Good reads:

• CMHC says that eliminating interprovincial trade barriers can increase housing starts. (I am dubious because it doesn’t address municipal unwillingness).
• The commander of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa was removed from his post regarding the investigation into posts to an abhorrent Facebook group.
• The special envoy for combatting antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, is retiring several months early.
• Contractors building an EV battery plant in Windsor say they haven’t been paid millions of dollars for work they’ve done, and are now in court.
• The Federal Court has temporarily stopped the deportation of a non-binary American, saying the officer didn’t take into account the current climate in the US.
• Here’s a profile of Stephanie McLean, the secretary of state for seniors, who was previously a minister in the Notley government in Alberta.
• Ontario’s PC party has scheduled their convention for the same weekend as Poilievre’s leadership review. (Seriously?)
• An independent candidate in the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection has had to stop door-knocking because of death threats.
• Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next Panel had to change some of their torqued poll questions, as the panel hearings continue to be a complete gong show.
• Alberta’s Auditor General says the province isn’t ensuring that federal child care dollars are properly going to reducing fees and increasing pay for workers.
• A report shows that the Alberta government interfered with the firefighting coordination between the town of Jasper and Parks Canada during the fire last year.
• Rob Salerno reflects on 20 years of same-sex marriage in Canada, and how that had an impact around the globe.

Odds and ends:

More extreme not-getting-it from Americans.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T20:02:30.832Z

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