AMC: Leadership Begins With Our Nations – Province Must Honour Its Duty to Consult All 63 First Nations on Churchill’s Future
December 9, 2025
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba
AMC Communications
AMC: Leadership Begins With Our Nations – Province Must Honour Its Duty to Consult All 63 First Nations on Churchill’s Future
“If we’re building the North’s future, First Nations must lead it.” – Grand Chief Kyra Wilson
Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg, MB (December 9, 2025) – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) supports efforts to secure Churchill’s long-term future, but real progress in the North must begin with First Nations leadership, grounded in the voices, direction, and decision-making of our 63 Nations.
In his State of the Province Address, Premier Wab Kinew on Tuesday described a Crown–Indigenous Corporation (CIC) as a partnership-led initiative. AMC welcomes that signal, but the Manitoba Government has a clear and legal Duty to Consult before any model moves forward.
“Our Chiefs must be directly involved in shaping how economic opportunities are built and how benefits reach our people. Our First Nations must help build the blueprint for Churchill.” – Grand Chief Kyra Wilson
AMC Chiefs are already discussing what a CIC could mean for the region. But meaningful partnership cannot exist without free, prior, and informed consent. Anything less undermines the province’s own commitments to economic reconciliation.
Grand Chief Wilson is clear: partnership is possible, and AMC is encouraged by the province’s recognition that the North needs long-term stability, investment, and new opportunities. Churchill’s development holds the potential for jobs, regional growth, and real ownership for the First Nations who have sustained the North for generations.
“Before anything moves ahead, the Manitoba government must sit with our Chiefs, honour its Duty to Consult, and build this future with us, not for us.”- Grand Chief Kyra Wilson
For more information, please contact:
Communications Team
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
Email: media@manitobachiefs.com
About the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
The AMC was formed in 1988 by the Chiefs in Manitoba to advocate on issues that commonly affect First Nations in Manitoba. AMC is an authorized representative of 62 of the 63 First Nations in Manitoba, with a total of more than 151,000 First Nations citizens in the province, accounting for approximately 12 per cent of the provincial population. AMC represents a diversity of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Nehetho / Ininew (Cree), Anishininew (Ojibwe-Cree), Denesuline (Dene) and Dakota Oyate (Dakota) people.