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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says in the 2026 federal budget she wants to see sustained funding for First Nations services and infrastructure and the resources First Nations need to file specific claims.
“Budgets are not just math,” Woodhouse Nepinak said at a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday.
“They are instruments that governments use to deliver on their obligations to the rights of all citizens.”
The AFN presented its recommendations to the federal government’s finance committee in June, which included policy recommendations from numerous First Nations in previous AFN assemblies.
Woodhouse Nepinak said she appreciated the announcements at last week’s First Nations-First Ministers meeting of $630 million over four years for First Nations and Inuit policing, $2.5 billion over five years for emergency preparedness, $260 million over four years for a new Indigenous Workforce Readiness Fund and potential new revenue-sharing mechanisms.
“We welcome this progress but we also recognize that these investments will not fully address the widening service and infrastructure gaps First Nations face each and every day,” said Woodhouse Nepinak.
The AFN has estimated the First Nations infrastructure gap at more than $375 billion over the next 10 years. Woodhouse Nepinak said the gap continues to widen as federal investments have not kept up with infrastructure needs in First Nations.
In September, an AFN-commissioned education infrastructure assessment found 77 on-reserve schools needed immediate replacement and 227 schools needed additions.
“Our children need safe and properly funded education that reflects their languages and their cultures,” said Woodhouse Nepinak.
She wants to see an annual investment of $2.5 billion over the next 20 years in First Nations education.
She added that essential First Nations services must be protected from budget cuts and expiring funding.
Judy Wilson, co-chair of the B.C. Specific Claims Working Group, called for the federal government to better fund specific claims research. Specific claims are grievances filed by First Nations over legal obligations that have been breached by the Crown.
“Canada cannot expect First Nations to embrace new partnerships while refusing to honour its obligations from the past,” said Wilson.
“Trust cannot be demanded and reconciliation cannot be built on unresolved injustices.”
Wilson said the Liberal government calling the 2026 budget “Maître chez nous/Masters of our destiny” is “astonishingly tone deaf” as “Canada invokes the language of self-determination while fast-tracking development on our First Nations territories without the proper consultation or consent.”
Judy Wilson is co-chair of the B.C. Specific Claims Working Group. (Ka’nhehsí:io Deer/CBC)
She said many specific claims have arisen from just that type of conduct.
“Canada should be correcting these injustices, not repeating them,” she said.
Laurie Carr, chief of Hiawatha First Nation in southern Ontario, told reporters Bill C-39, which would fast-track major infrastructure projects, “tramples over” Indigenous rights in regards to consultation.
“If we were there at the very beginning it would help solve a lot of those issues that happen when you don’t work and consult and engage with First Nations, and it would save time,” said Carr.
“We’re not against development but we are against our rights being trampled over.”
