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The initiative began last year under the former Stephen Harper government, and has continued since Justin Trudeau’s Liberals took power after the October election.

Called the Multilateral Engagement Process, the approach by the two levels of government and the First Nations Summit, which represents indigenous groups involved in talks, was unveiled in June.

It asks negotiators to shoot for more modest objectives that don’t always involve a comprehensive land and self-government agreement.

“I think it’s exciting. I think we’re feeling a different attitude,” she said.

Government negotiators have “taken a refreshing new approach, which is listening to our First Nations and saying, ‘what is it you’d like to achieve?’ And sometimes it’s short of a treaty. Sometimes it might be (a funding agreement on) education, it might be fishery.

“It doesn’t have to be the full treaty in order for us to sit down and work with them in terms of what an agreement would look like.”

For years critics have complained that the federal government gave its negotiators what Bennett called a “cookie-cutter” mandate that didn’t give given them the flexibility or authority to tailor deals to specific needs.

The resulting frustration and alienation at the negotiating tables has reversed itself as a result of the new approach, she said.

“All I can do is express my optimism in that people have come back to the table who were very unhappy before, who are now prepared to think about having an agreement with Canada.”