Manitoba First Nations urge Ottawa to amend budget to reflect community needs

By Brittany Hobson Some Indigenous leaders in Manitoba say there is still time for the federal government to amend Tuesday’s budget in order to get First Nations input and get money where it’s needed. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says the proposed budget loops First Nations infrastructure into other initiatives. Wilson says that leaves leaders wondering whether cash previously set aside for communities has been allocated elsewhere. The budget introduced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne did not break down funding between First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and it froze annual base funding for Indigenous health and social services and for treaty work. Ottawa says that freeze amounts to a two per cent cut at a time when most federal agencies face a 15 per cent cut. Brokenhead…

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