Dear Mark Carney,

You first came to my attention in September of 2024 when an investor in the film I co-directed, Sugarcane, told me, “This guy is going to be the next prime minister.” I remember the declaration so distinctly because, at the time, that eventuality seemed impossible. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals were trailing Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives by double digits in the polls. The country, along with the rest of the world, was shifting rightward. I figured Truth and Reconciliation would end when Trudeau’s party lost. But I was wrong.

At the time, I knew little about you other than that you were a former governor of the Bank of England. In your roles at the Bank of England and the United Nations, you argued that fossil fuel infrastructure, like the controversial oil and gas pipelines ploughed through Indigenous lands across Canada, could become “stranded assets.” Or, in normal speak, those projects might become abandoned hulks of ghost infrastructure left to rust until the corporations, or more likely the public, clean up the mess. You’re bullish on a transition to a clean economy, which suggests you’re a leader willing to use the language of economics against one of the most powerful industries in the history of the world. And now, you’re trying, with varying degrees of success, to stand up to United States president Donald Trump. You’re the kind of politician who, from a distance, looks like he has courage and can be reasoned with.

All of which makes some of your recent actions feel like a reversal, even a betrayal. Your budget blueprint proposes cutting funding for Indigenous Services Canada and Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada by $2.3 billion—or about 2 percent per year—while investing aggressively in critical minerals, energy corridors, and a defence buildup. The cuts affect programs that Indigenous leaders see as essential to fulfilling the promise of Truth and Reconciliation, like Friendship Centres, which offer a first point of contact for people moving from Indian reserves and........

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