Several Indigenous leaders have shared their concerns and perspectives on the Government of Canada’s recent budget. APTN News and Nunatsiaq Online report that annual base funding for Indigenous health and social services and treaty work has been frozen, representing a 2% cut, and that funding for the Jordan’s Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative programs is only budgeted until March 2026. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak expressed disappointment that the budget lacked a plan “to close the First Nations education gaps that exist in this country.” Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc President Jeremy Tunraluk praised the budget’s support for the Inuit Nunangat University. Obed, Tunraluk and Métis National Council President Victoria Pruden each noted the lack of a breakdown for funding by each of the three major Indigenous groups. Federal Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty told Nunatsiaq Online that both Jordan’s Principle and the ICFI program will be retooled and made permanent in the future and explained that the “zeros” in the budget are not cuts, but part of an ongoing program reform.
