The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) hosted its winter legislative assembly in Prince Albert this week, and First Nations leaders from across the province travelled to discuss a variety of important topics on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Among the topics discussed at the assembly was the incoming tariffs that US President Donald Trump is slated to impose.
Earlier this month, the FSIN put out a statement reminding Canada and the US of First Nations economic sovereignty. The federal government hosted an economic summit in Toronto to discuss enhancing interprovincial trade and identifying new trading partners. At the summit, First Nations leaders from each province weren’t included in a new advisory council.
Earlier this month, premiers from all provinces and territories made a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with key members of the Trump administration to advocate for maintaining Canada-U.S. relations. Premiers did not invite First Nations leadership along on the trip, which Prince Albert Grand Council, Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte, stated wasn’t the right move.
“The First Nations have to have a say in these tariffs and in the land that we’re on, and we should be included in these missions to Washington because we never gave up the territory; this is still our territory, and they’re talking about our land,” he explained.
On the other hand, FSIN Fourth Vice Chief Craig McCallum stated that although tariffs are seen as negative, he thinks that in the long run they will help unite First Nations people and communities.
“We’re resilient people; we wouldn’t be here still, and we wouldn’t have our languages and cultures, all of our practices, if we weren’t strong and if we couldn’t resist and overcome policies that were meant to harm us, and so we’re still here, and so I believe even after these tariffs, after the dust settles, we’ll still be here, and I actually believe we’ll come out stronger,” he said.
25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods heading to the states are set to take effect on March 4.