This week, as North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations were underway in Montreal, the Indigenous Peoples Chapter was characterized by some media as part of a “social agenda,” and a Canadian domestic issue being imposed on other countries. This perspective misses Constitutional and international human rights imperatives, as well as the benefits of the Chapter for Canada and its trading partners.

As a member of Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland’s advisory council, I had one immediate recommendation when we first convened last August. Modernizing the 25-year-old agreement requires a clear recognition of the rights of First Nations. Much has changed since the original NAFTA was negotiated.

After decades of litigation, the Supreme Court of Canada made the first declaration of Aboriginal title in 2014 in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia. In doing so, the court not only acknowledged ownership of Tsilhqot’in Nation’s land and resources, it also clarified that the legal requirements for use of title land is consent of the owners, the First Nation.

You cannot trade what is not yours. The Crown has operated for decades under an approach of “assumed Crown Sovereignty” over asserted First Nations lands. Tsilhqot’in, among other things, says the Crown can no longer make this assumption. Respect and partnership are required for any economic development.

Currently, the focus is on NAFTA, but the need to recognize and protect First Nation inherent and treaty rights and promoting Indigenous business and entrepreneurs goes beyond NAFTA. This new chapter is aligned with Canada’s legal obligations to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as enshrined in the Constitution. It would also respect the treaties that cover this country and acknowledge our rights, including Aboriginal title. It must be included in all international trade and international investment agreements.

Something else has transpired since the original NAFTA agreement came into force back in 1994. All three countries have endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This consensus declaration has been adopted by 144 nation states, many of which are Canada’s top trading partners.

Article 36 of the declaration specifically requires that nation states must facilitate the right of Indigenous peoples who have been divided by international borders to maintain and develop contacts, relations and co-operation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, social and economic purposes.

The Indigenous Peoples Chapter is also aimed at promoting and enhancing inter-nation Indigenous Trade, so that we as First Nations people can re-establish trading relationships that were lost with the imposition of an unwanted border, which we refer to as the Medicine Line.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest Indigenous organization in the United States has also endorsed the development of an Indigenous Peoples Chapter in NAFTA. NCAI will continue to make their support known to the U.S. administration.

Mexico has more than 60 Indigenous Nations, which make up approximately 15 per cent of the population. Ignoring Indigenous rights in the original NAFTA was a factor in the uprisings in Mexico that began on the day the agreement went into effect, January 1, 1994.

An Indigenous Peoples Chapter is not only essential to uphold Canada’s legal obligations, it makes good economic sense. Economic certainty is essential to attract international investment to Canada. New resource development requires willing First Nations partners, given much of this investment will take place on our traditional territories.

In 2014, the value of those resource projects was estimated at $650 billion. For that money to flow and for development to grow, First Nation governments must be treated as partners in decision-making and as beneficiaries. It is also worth noting that doing business on reserves has additional benefits for investors; benefits that also need to be promoted by the Canadian government.

First Nations are already exporting products internationally. For example, Muskowekwan First Nation and Encanto Potash Corporation have signed a historic agreement to develop a potash mine on First Nations lands in Saskatchewan, bringing with it own source sustainable revenue, direct job creation and spinoff employment opportunities.

Encanto Potash Corporation has recently signed two agreements to sell a total of seven million tonnes of potash annually to the National Federation of Farmers’ Procurement, Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India and the Metals and Minerals Trading Cooperation of India for the next 20 years.

Abenaki Enterprise, as another example, has been trading with the United States for more than 15 years, and with Mexico for five years, which has translated into 19 local jobs.

Making economic space in NAFTA for Indigenous peoples and rights recognizes another reality. First Nations youth are the fastest growing segment of Canada’s population. The full participation of First Nations in the sustainable growth of our economy and the labour force requires a commitment to economic reconciliation that can only be achieved through the full acceptance and implementation of our rights.

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Including protection of Indigenous rights and improved economic opportunities for First Nations should be a part of all of Canada’s international trade and investment agreements. This will lead to improved certainty for business, and that benefits everyone.

Perry Bellegarde is the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a member of Canada’s NAFTA Advisory Council.