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OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is being pushed to invest $500 million over five years on a 1,600-member national “Guardians” team to patrol, and assert aboriginal sovereignty in, the vast traditional territory of Canada’s First Nations.

Modelled in part after a land stewardship initiative by B.C.’s Haida Nation on the north coast, the initiative would help boost economies and build leadership in remote communities, members of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative said at a news conference here Monday.

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The Guardians could operate as land managers, planners, community consultation officers, emergency response officers and even fisheries management officers, they said.

But the hired stewards could also play a role in peacefully asserting sovereignty on traditional territories that are not yet part of settled land claims.

“What they are asserting is the policies of their governments, their sovereignty if you will, in a constructive way,” said former Haida Nation leader Miles Richardson.