Carney to meet with Coastal First Nations on major projects, conservation

Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with Coastal First Nations on Tuesday to discuss major projects and marine conservation.

Carney is travelling to Prince Rupert, B.C. for the meeting, along with Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, whose relationship with Coastal First Nations got off to a rocky start.

Hodgson did not meet with the alliance of nine First Nations before Carney signed an agreement with Alberta that opens the door to a pipeline to B.C.’s coast.

He was forced to apologize after quipping in a television interview that he could have met alliance members via Zoom.

Carney and Coastal First Nations are expected to talk about the federal government’s major projects agenda and how Indigenous communities can be included in the push to strengthen the Canadian economy in response to economic threats from the United States.

Coastal First Nations works to protect the B.C. coastline and the Great Bear Rainforest and to ensure First Nations have a say in how resources and waters are managed.