Minister says end of Liberal-NDP alliance unlikely to impact Indigenous issues

Will the end of the Liberal-NDP alliance make for a feistier partisan atmosphere on Indigenous issues in the House of Commons this fall? Gary Anandasangaree doesn't think so.

«I like to think that reconciliation is a non-partisan issue,» said the Liberal minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations in a sit-down interview this week on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

As federal lawmakers sharpen their political swords following the return of the Trudeau government to a precarious minority position this month, time will tell if that's true.

The Liberals have some major outstanding items atop their reconciliation agenda they'd like to finish before the next election, which is slated for 2025 but could happen earlier after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ended his agreement to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month.

One item is a proposed law on clean drinking water for First Nations, currently at the committee stage. The other is a proposed $47.8-billion, 10-year deal to reform the First Nations child-welfare system, which still requires approval from chiefs and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. If an election is triggered, that would kill the water bill and throw the child-welfare deal into limbo.

Singh has said justice for Indigenous people will be a priority this fall, yet Anandasangaree doesn't expect the NDP to take a harder line against the governing party on Indigenous issues.

«In the last nine years we have moved to a point where — we're not perfect. We're not, certainly. It's not like people shouldn't criticize us — but I also think there's a better story that we're able to tell,» he said.

The NDP's critic for Indigenous Services, Northern Affairs and Crown-Indigenous Relations had a different take.

After nine years