SCO Expresses Disappointment Over Exclusion of Southern First Nations in Manitoba from Indigenous Advisory Council

Press Release

September 10, 2025

“Our province has the largest urban Indigenous population in Canada, yet our Nations are entirely absent. SCO calls on the federal government to correct this oversight immediately.”
– Grand Chief Jerry Daniels

ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is voicing serious concern following today’s announcement by Prime Minister Carney of the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) for the new Major Projects Office (MPO). Despite Manitoba being home to the largest Indigenous urban population in Canada, no Southern First Nations in Manitoba were appointed to this national body.

It is deeply troubling that no Southern First Nations in Manitoba were appointed to the Indigenous Advisory Council guiding national infrastructure and resource projects,” said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. “Our province has the largest urban Indigenous population in Canada, yet our Nations are entirely absent. SCO calls on the federal government to correct this oversight immediately.

The exclusion is particularly troubling given the role the IAC will play in guiding the federal government’s approach to nation-building projects under the Building Canada Act (Bill C-5). SCO has consistently stated that Bill C-5 must uphold the rights of First Nations and ensure that development corridors, trade routes, and infrastructure planning are Indigenous-led. The absence of Manitoba First Nations on this Council undermines that commitment.

“When Bill C-5 was passed, we were clear: First Nations must be leaders in charting the path for Canada’s infrastructure and trade future,” added Grand Chief Daniels. “From energy corridors to major transportation routes, these projects cross our territories and impact our Nations directly. Southern Manitoba’s First Nations need to be at the table, not left on the outside looking in.

The Indigenous Advisory Council includes representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing communities across the country; however, no Southern Manitoba First Nations were selected.

SCO urges the federal government to ensure that Southern First Nations in Manitoba are meaningfully included in the work of the Major Projects Office. True reconciliation requires that First Nations—not governments or industry alone—lead decision-making when it comes to the lands, waters, and economies that sustain us. This is the spirit in which SCO has engaged with Bill C-5 and the broader vision for Indigenous-led nation-building across Canada.

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The Southern Chiefs’ Organization represents 32 First Nations and more than 87,000 citizens in what is now called southern Manitoba. SCO is an independent political organization that protects, preserves, promotes, and enhances First Nations peoples’ inherent rights, languages, customs, and traditions through the application and implementation of the spirit and intent of the Treaty-making process.

For media inquiries:
Email: Media@scoinc.mb.ca

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