A joint effort with Indigenous peoples to de-colonize Canada’s laws and policies is essential to fully realize our Treaty rights, our inherent rights, title and jurisdiction recognized and affirmed by Constitution and in international law,” AFN National Chief Bellegarde.

Questions remain on how this framework will be structured, how it will impact treaties, bands and reserves and how it will fit with the federal government’s stated intention to “move beyond the Indian Act.” A number of chiefs raised concerns that consultations on the framework promised by Trudeau have been lacking and that legislation on rights and Indigenous languages are being rushed in order to get them passed before the 2019 election. Others expressed distrust of the federal government, dismissing Trudeau’s pledges to approach Indigenous relations in a new way as empty platitudes.