Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew holds up his First Nations status card during a press conference at the First Nations-First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa, October 26, 2026.

Of all the political leaders one would expect to revive Pierre Trudeau’s disastrous 1969 proposal to abolish the Indian Act, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is not one of them. There is something deeply troubling about a provincial premier calling for the annulment of the act, promising that First Nations have “nothing to lose but their chains”—a ham-fisted reference to Marx—by tearing up a law that, while colonial, outdated, and paternalistic recognizes the special status of First Nations and protects their reserve lands from the provinces.

At the recent First Nations-First Ministers meeting in Ottawa, Kinew held up his Indian status card, called it a “race-based” form of identification and said, “I think it’s time to abolish the Indian Act.” Just like that, his political grandstanding usurped the voices of the chiefs and redirected the national conversation away from the urgent issues facing First Nations communities. As a former broadcaster and journalist with extensive media experience, he should have known better. First Nations leaders have since pushed back, with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip describing Kinew’s comments as “highly inappropriate and completely disrespectful.”

One has to wonder whether this call to eliminate the Indian Act would have been so well received if the premier of Québec or Alberta had made it. While Kinew is an Anishinaabe member of Onigaming First Nation, he is not a chief, nor is he mandated to advance First Nations priorities. This proposition came from the premier of Manitoba, and we must assess it in the context of his government’s priorities—particularly its support for resource extraction.

Kinew has been a staunch proponent of mines and pipelines, even suggesting that not all laws regulating the mining industry are necessary. Manitoba’s economic agenda mirrors those of other jurisdictions that have recently moved to fast-track major energy projects and resource extraction. These efforts include Alberta’s Expedited 120-Day Approvals Act, Ontario’s Building Ontario Faster Act, British Columbia’s Infrastructure Projects Act, and the federal government’s highly controversial Building Canada Strong Act. First Nations have raised concerns that such legislation will not only circumvent important environmental protections but also permit breaches of their constitutionally protected Aboriginal, treaty, and land rights.

While Kinew has always advocated respect for First Nations rights, his call to abolish the Indian Act is set within the historical context of various federal governments making the same appeal when they wanted to speed up resource extraction.

Wab Kinew: "Let’s get rid of the Indian Act. You have nothing to lose but your chains." https://t.co/q3LRXVLlMt— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson_) October 26,........

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