Poilievre promises chiefs more economic control in speech to Assembly of First Nations

In his first in-person speech to the Assembly of First Nations on Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised chiefs a government led by him would reduce the federal government's role their lives and give them more say over their economic futures.

«I'm not here to run your life. I don't want to run anybody's life,» Poilievre said. «I want to run a small government with big citizens free to make their own decisions and live their own lives.»

Poilievre said every delegate in the room is a leader who knows their communities better than Ottawa does, and better than he does. He promised to get rid of the «Ottawa knows best» approach that he said has only led to destructive policies that harm First Nations.

«For too long, you have been held back by a broken system that takes power away from you and places it in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa,» he said.

The Conservative leader pledged to cut bureaucracy at the federal level so that the revenue from resource extraction on Indigenous lands is used more directly to improve lives in First Nations communities.

Those promises earned applause from those in attendance, rather than the boos he got with his December 2022 video message to the AFN. But not all delegates were pleased with what they heard Thursday.

Several delegates turned their backs to Poilievre while he was speaking from the podium, while others criticized him for the actions of past Conservative governments and for not addressing some important issues.

«In your speech, you did not acknowledge missing, murdered women, you did not acknowledge the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, you did not acknowledge the inherent title rights where my people come from,» said delegate