First Nations infrastructure critical but not nation-building: minister
By Canadian Press on June 2, 2025.
OTTAWA — The new federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister says building up First Nations infrastructure is “critical” but doesn’t qualify as nation-building as her government works to fast-track new projects.
The federal government is developing legislation to fast-track what it calls “nation-building” projects with a streamlined regulatory approval process as a substitute for reviews under the Impact Assessment Act.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty says that while closing the First Nations infrastructure gap is important, it’s not considered nation-building and would be pursued outside the proposed legislation.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said last week First Nations infrastructure should be considered nation-building because addressing the shortage of all-season roads and internet connectivity in many communities would boost the economy.
She says it’s “terrible” that the minister doesn’t consider those projects nation-building, adding she hasn’t met with Alty since she was sworn in last month.
Woodhouse Nepinak pointed to a report by the Conference Board of Canada for the AFN that said closing the First Nations infrastructure gap could generate $630 billion in economic growth and create more than 330,000 jobs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
11-10
$31 billion annually is paid out of the taxpayers in Canada to support about 1.3 million First Nations/Inuit, with almost have of those not taking all of the benefits because they no longer live on reserves and in many cases work so are not eligible, so I would like to know where all that money is going?
When you look at the provincial budget for lets say Nova Scotia, which has a population of 1,076,374 there new budget for 2025-2026 is only $17 billion.
Where is all money going on First Nations, because on top of the annual payout of $31 billion, there have been massive payouts to First Nations for other issues, one over $40 billion. Provinces also contribute to First Nations and there are the emergency supports which are not included in that $31 billion, so where is all that money going?
There should be no housing issues and there should be no clean water issues in today’s society, because you can put skid units into communities to purify water, that automatically add chemical to the water and report any issues remotely to a central monitor using telecommunications, so if there is an issue, they can contact someone in the band and have the fix the issue. There is no reason for not having clean water and these systems have been available for over 2 decades!
Housing also concerns me and there is no reason why they do not have the very basic housing at least, to live in.