In controversial remarks at an event last week, Justice Minister David Lametti said he would look into a request to revoke the resource rights of Prairie provinces, a move that brought swift condemnation from the provinces’ premiers concerned about infringements in their jurisdiction.
In their latest salvo on April 11, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “immediately retract those dangerous and divisive comments by his justice minister.”
At an Assembly of First Nations (AFN) chiefs’ conference in Ottawa on April 5, Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte from Prince Albert Grand Council asked Lametti to rescind the Natural Resource Transfer Act (NRTA). The chief suggested the Saskatchewan First Act jeopardized treaty rights by emphasizing provincial jurisdiction over “Indian natural resources.”…