OTTAWA — Several key federal cabinet ministers addressed the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa Thursday, including Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
But Energy Minister Tim Hodgson — who is helping to advance Prime Minister Mark Carney’s major projects agenda — has been taken off the agenda, despite being previously scheduled to appear Thursday.
Hodgson’s office said he is still taking part in a midday meeting with B.C. chiefs but will not be speaking on the panel he was initially slated to join. His office said that decision was made by “organizers.”
AFN officials said they would never prevent a minister from addressing chiefs and they were not given an explanation for Hodgson’s withdrawal.
Hodgson found himself in hot water last week when he brushed off concerns from Coastal First Nations about failing to meet with them before the pipeline agreement was signed with Alberta.
“It’s called Zoom,” Hodgson quipped on CBC’s Power and Politics when asked about Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett’s inability to make the trip to Vancouver on short notice for a meeting.
He apologized for those remarks, saying on social media it was a “poor choice of words” and offering to meet with the First Nations “at their convenience.”
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has said Budget 2025 failed First Nations because it did not include more infrastructure funding and educational resources for their communities.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Champagne addressed chiefs Thursday morning. They defended the budget and pointed to sections of the fiscal plan they said could benefit Indigenous communities.
Gull-Masty assured chiefs her government is committed to reforming the First Nations child welfare system and to ensuring First Nations children get the supports they need, when they need them.
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with chiefs on Tuesday and attempted to quell their concerns about an agreement he signed with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith that paves the way for a pipeline to B.C.’s coast.
Chiefs unanimously passed a resolution calling for that agreement to be rescinded, and to push the federal government to uphold its tanker ban on the northern B.C. coast.
During a meeting with Carney on Wednesday, chiefs from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 expressed openness to pipeline ownership.
Chiefs in Alberta do not have a regional representative at the Assembly of First Nations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
