The Right Honourable Mark Carney 
Prime Minister of Canada 

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc 
Minister responsible for One Canadian Economy

The Honourable Rebecca Alty  
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations 

Re: Bill C-39 Building Canada Strong Act’s Impact and Related Crown Obligations

Dear Prime Minister Carney, Minister LeBlanc and Minister Alty:

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is deeply concerned that Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act (Bill C-39), risks further entrenching accelerated federal decision-making processes that fail to adequately protect First Nations’ inherent and constitutional title and rights, jurisdiction, and decision-making authority.

As you know, section 5 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) requires that the Government of Canada, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration). We are unaware of any consultation and cooperation undertaken by the Government of Canada with respect to specific development of Bill C-39. On its face, and as elaborated on below, Bill C-39 is obviously inconsistent with the UN Declaration. Accordingly, advancement of Bill C-39 must be immediately paused to allow for sufficient time for the Government of Canada to consult and cooperate with Indigenous peoples in order to ensure that Bill C-39 is consistent with the UN Declaration before it is passed, as required by the UN Declaration Act. 

With respect to Bill C-39’s current content, its emphasis on accelerated project reviews and a one-year timeline for project decisions risks the Crown being unable to adequately fulfill its constitutional obligations and prejudicing First Nations’ own decision-making processes. Economic objectives, regulatory efficiency, and investor certainty cannot pre-determine the time required for meaningful consultation and accommodation or consultation and cooperation to obtain the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of affected First Nations. Consultation must determine the timeline; the timeline must not determine consultation. 

These concerns are particularly significant in light of the Building Canada Act and efforts to accelerate projects deemed to be in the national interest. Through Resolution 2025-24, the UBCIC Chiefs Council firmly opposed federal fast-track legislation that fails to ensure full and meaningful consultation and cooperation with First Nations to obtain their FPIC. Most recently, at the September 2026 UBCIC Annual General Assembly, Chiefs-in-Assembly passed Resolution 2026-46 calling on Canada to co-draft enforceable minimum procedural standards for consultation on major projects, in full alignment with the UN Declaration. Chiefs-in-Assembly also passed Resolution 2026-40 calling for the immediate halt to advancing major resource projects in B.C. while the disproportionately high number of historical land claims remain unresolved and fundamental problems with the resolution process remain unaddressed. 

Bill C-39 must be amended to ensure that accelerated project reviews do not diminish First Nations’ inherent, human, and constitutionally protected title and rights, treaty rights, jurisdiction, or decision-making authority. The legislation should include a clear non-derogation clause confirming that nothing in Bill C-39 abrogates or derogates from Aboriginal and treaty rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, or limits the Crown’s consultation and accommodation obligations. Canada must also work directly with First Nations title and rights holders to ensure that Bill C-39 includes minimum standards for consultation that are consistent with the UN Declaration, including consultation through each Nation’s chosen representatives and governance processes and processes directed toward obtaining FPIC. 

Meaningful consultation also requires sufficient time, information, and resources for affected First Nations to understand and assess proposed projects, obtain independent technical and legal advice, engage their citizens through their own governance and decision-making processes, and develop informed positions. Statutory and administrative timelines must therefore be capable of suspension or extension where necessary to fulfil Crown obligations and the needs of First Nations. Project design, routing, conditions, and approval must remain genuinely open to change throughout consultation, including whether a project proceeds at all. Regional assessments or other regional findings must not be treated as advance consent to individual projects and must be capable of being revisited where information is incomplete, circumstances or cumulative effects change, or affected First Nations identify unresolved impacts on their title and rights. 

Bill C-39 must also require transparent and reasoned decision-making before project authorizations are issued, including clear findings respecting whether consultation requirements have been met and adequate accommodation has been given, identification of unresolved First Nations concerns, and an explanation of the measures taken to address impacts on title and rights. Accelerated timelines cannot justify issuing approvals while constitutional obligations remain outstanding, nor can economic participation, advisory roles, or mitigation measures be treated as substitutes for consent where FPIC is required. 

The UN Declaration affirms the right of Indigenous Peoples to participate in decision-making through their own representative institutions under Article 18 and requires States to consult and cooperate in good faith to obtain FPIC before adopting measures or approving projects that may affect Indigenous Peoples and their lands and  resources under Articles 19 and 32(2). Canada’s obligations under the UN Declaration Act require federal laws to be made consistent with these minimum human rights standards.

First Nations are not stakeholders in federal regulatory processes. They are title and rights holders and governments with their own applicable laws, jurisdictions, and responsibilities. A more efficient federal regulatory system cannot be achieved by compressing the exercise of those rights or treating consultation as a procedural step that must fit within a predetermined project schedule. Reconciliation cannot mean making regulatory decisions faster at the expense of First Nations’ basic human and constitutionally protected rights.

UBCIC therefore calls on Canada to: 

a) immediately pause advancement of Bill C-39 to allow for sufficient time for the Government of Canada to consult and cooperate with Indigenous peoples in order to ensure that Bill C-39 is consistent with the UN Declaration before it is passed, as required by the UN Declaration Act; and

b) work directly with First Nations title and rights holders to amend Bill C-39, including the co-development of enforceable federal consultation standards consistent with the direction provided by UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly and the UN Declaration.

We request an urgent meeting to discuss these concerns and the amendments required to ensure Bill C-39 fully respects First Nations’ inherent and constitutionally protected title and rights, and jurisdiction.

On behalf of the UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS 

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
President 

Chief Councillor Linda Innes
Vice-President 

Chief Marilyn Slett
Secretary-Treasurer 

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