The status of the Kelowna agreement — noticeably absent from the latest federal budget — will be on the agenda on Monday as aboriginal leaders sit down with the four western premiers and the leaders of the three northern territories.
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Leaders from five national aboriginal organizations will meet with the premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Monday afternoon, hours before the conference officially opens in the town of Gimli.
Signed by aboriginal leaders, first ministers and former prime minister Paul Martin three days before his minority Liberal government fell in November 2005, the Kelowna agreement was a five-year, $5-billion plan for improved health, education, housing and economic development for aboriginals.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who didn't include mention of the agreement in his May 2 budget, has said he "supports the principles and objectives" of the Kelowna agreement, but won't be bound by the price tag negotiated by the former Liberal government.
Patrick Brazeau, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, is confident the accord is still alive, saying Ottawa has promised to review the deal and that this meeting with the premiers is an important step.
"This is an opportunity … to hear from the provinces in terms of where they want to go and the same for the aboriginal leadership of the country," Brazeau said. "Let's call it the Phase 2 of Kelowna."
Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, the host of the conference, said he and other premiers remain committed to the deal.
"We definitely support the Kelowna accord," Doer said, adding that the premiers will be in a state of "suspended animation" until they learn Ottawa's long-term aboriginal policy.
But Doer said he intends to keep the promises made in the Kelowna agreement.
"Aboriginal people will be judging federal governments by what they do, not by what they say, and so will we," he said.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord are expected to join the conference on Wednesday, along with the governors of four U.S. states and five Mexican states.
The prime minister is expected to dine with the group on Wednesday evening, but his arrival hasn't been confirmed.