Ontario First Nation chiefs meet with party leaders ahead of June election

First Nation chiefs from across Ontario held a virtual town hall with three of the four major political party leaders to ask questions about their policies and platforms and how they plan to help Indigenous people.

The meeting consisted of three consecutive one-hour sessions where each leader had the chance to share their platform and take questions from First Nation chiefs about key priorities affecting their communities.

Taking part were Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.

"We look at the vote as who is going to be our dance partner moving forward," said Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod.

Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare said First Nation priorities are also Ontario priorities.

"It’s time for us both First Nations and the Ontario Government to chart a new path," he said.

At the meeting, Schreiner said the Green Party will work with Indigenous communities to conserve and protect at least two per cent of Ontario by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030 and pledged to give Indigenous communities $1 billion for "climate leadership, mitigation and adaptation."

"To have Ontario be successful in the green transition requires a relationship between First Nations and the province," said Schreiner.

First Nation chiefs from across Ontario held a virtual town hall with three of the four major party leaders to ask questions about their policies and platforms and how they plan to help Indigenous people.

"Indigenous Peoples are the first stewards of this land and it is the government’s obligation to consult with, work with, and provide support to Indigenous communities to conserve and protect nature."

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was questioned on how her party plans to address Indigenous mental health and addictions. Horwath said it’s crucial to fix the current mental health and addictions strategy by removing the current cap on safe consumption sites put in place by the Ford government.

"We’ve been trying to push former governments, including this one, to take the mental health and addictions crisis seriously," Horwath said.

"We’ll bring mental health and addictions into our OHIP system … We want to see a decriminalization of drugs and clean the poisoned drug supply."

She said it’s crucial that mental health and addictions services are culturally appropriate for Indigenous patients and her plan includes training more staff in mental health services including nurses, social workers and other primary care providers.

Del Duca said an Ontario Liberal government will give $10 million to Indigenous small businesses while also pledging to create 22,000 off-reserve homes in the next decade for Indigenous families.

"The full costing of our platform will be included when we reveal our platform in just a few days," Del Duca said.

"There will be a very large and bold component that will deal with housing."

Both Horwath and Del Duca committed to scrapping minister’s zoning orders (MZOs), which allow the province to override municipal council decisions on development.

Both the frequency of its use and the way in which the province has used them have faced criticism from First Nation leaders.

Conservative leader and current Premier Doug Ford did not participate because he had dental surgery.

"I think it’s crucial for Premier Ford to make time otherwise the chiefs will know where we stand (with) him," said McLeod.

The chiefs are hoping to schedule a time to speak with Ford’s campaign team in the coming weeks to hear his policies on how he plans to support Ontario’s First Nations.