Fast-tracking past justice: why the Major Projects Office threatens real reconciliation

The pressure to 'fast track' projects transparently signals workarounds to avoid legal obligations around Indigenous consultation, placing advisers in an untenable position.

Keisha Paulmartin, president of the youth advisory council in Kashechewan First Nation, speaks with a group of First Nations youth gathered outside the Prime Minister’s First Nations summit on Bill C-5 in Gatineau, Que., on July 17, 2025, calling on the government to respect treaty rights and oppose Bill C-5. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY VANESSA AMBTMAN-SMITH

September 29, 2025

As we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: Canada’s new Major Projects Office and its Indigenous Advisory Council represent a dangerous regression in our journey toward reconciliation, not progress.

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