News Release
November 9, 2026

Budget 2026: Climate Crisis and First Nations Title and Rights Overshadowed by Carney’s Resource Extraction and Sovereignty Agenda

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – November 9, 2026) On November 5th, Minister of Finance and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne tabled the federal budget, which continues the fast-tracking Carney economic growth agenda based on fossil fuel extraction that will exacerbate climate change.

Titled Masters of Our Destiny, Budget 2026 prioritizes corporate investment, resource extraction, and the accelerated development of major projects including the Pacific Link Pipeline. The budget includes a necessary return to investments in First Nations housing and infrastructure, but these commitments fall far short of addressing longstanding funding gaps.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, UBCIC President, stated “This budget shows a government far more interested in fast-tracking resource extraction and enriching corporations than respecting the title and rights of First Nations. It is in fact difficult to get past the poorly chosen name ‘Masters of our Destiny’ which recalls the horrific and colonial ‘Manifest Destiny’ belief and awkwardly appropriates the 1962 Quebec electoral campaign of then-premier Jean Lesage, ‘Maîtres chez nous,’ or ‘Masters of Our Own House.’ Prime Minister Carney’s budget is premised on a false notion of Canadian sovereignty, one that prioritizes the expansion of Canada's fossil fuel economy with little regard for climate impacts or the rights of First Nations. In its determination to assert economic independence from the United States, Canada appears increasingly willing to embrace the same reckless fossil fuel expansion and corporate-first policies it claims to reject. True sovereignty cannot be achieved by continuing to deny the sovereignty of First Nations or by sacrificing our lands, waters, and future generations in the name of economic growth.”

Canada’s 2026 Budget continues to treat First Nations title and rights as secondary considerations in Carney’s economic agenda. Investments in First Nations including in housing, infrastructure, and safe drinking water, are welcome and desperately needed after decades of chronic underfunding. However, the Assembly of First Nations has identified a staggering $376.1 billion infrastructure gap, and the federal government's commitments remain far from what is required to close it. Similarly, the promised $6 billion over six years for Jordan’s Principle falls short of even the most conservative expenditure projections required to meet the needs of First Nations children. The Budget’s reference to the flawed Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, is also problematic—Bill C-37 fails to meet the basic requirements that any legislation on First Nations’ access to clean water must uphold: recognition of First Nations water jurisdiction beyond colonial reserve boundaries, alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and adequate recognition of access to clean water as an enforceable human right.

Chief Marilyn Slett, UBCIC Secretary-Treasurer, concluded “Minister Champagne speaks of Canada's climate leadership and a plan to protect our environment, while his government simultaneously advances the construction of another massive oil pipeline to the West Coast. The proposed Pacific Link pipeline would transport up to one million barrels of crude oil every day, further entrenching Canada's dependence on fossil fuels at a time when we should be urgently transitioning away from them. This is not a credible response to the climate emergency. First Nations are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change, including catastrophic wildfires, flooding, and the destruction of critical ecosystems and salmon habitat. These concerns are compounded by Bill C-39, which seeks to further accelerate major project approvals without adequate safeguards for First Nations title and rights. We call on Canada to immediately halt the advancement of Bill C-39 and work directly with First Nations to ensure any proposed reforms uphold the UN Declaration, including the requirement to obtain free, prior, and informed consent. Canada cannot have it both ways. We call on the federal government to abandon its dangerous obsession with fossil fuel expansion and commit to a truly sustainable economic future that respects First Nations title and rights, upholds our jurisdiction, and protects the lands and waters upon which we all depend.”

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Media inquiries:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, 250-490-5314
Chief Marilyn Slett, Secretary-Treasurer, 250-957-7721

UBCIC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
For more information, please visit www.ubcic.bc.ca 

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