09/07/2026
On Labour Day, we honour the workers whose skill, determination and sacrifice have built this country. For First Nations, that story begins long before Canada.
Our people have always worked. We built economies through trade, harvesting, stewardship and entrepreneurship, and our knowledge and labour helped build the communities and industries that followed. Yet for generations, First Nations people contributed to Canada’s prosperity while being denied many of the rights and benefits that prosperity was meant to provide.
Until 1960, Status First Nations people could not vote federally on the same terms as other Canadians without risking their legal Indian status. First Nations women waited decades longer than most Canadian women for that same unconditional right to vote. Even the 1929 Persons Case, celebrated for recognizing women as “persons” in Canadian law, did not extend that promise of equality to all women, including Indigenous women.
The inequity extended into the workplace. When the Canada Pension Plan was created in 1966, Status First Nations people working on reserve in tax-exempt employment were excluded from participating. That exclusion continued until changes beginning in 1988 opened a path to CPP participation.
And still, our people worked.
First Nations people helped build roads, communities and industries. They worked in mines, construction camps and businesses, and as guides, harvesters, tradespeople, professionals and entrepreneurs. First Nations women carried both paid work and generations of essential work that was too often unpaid and unrecognized—raising families, caring for communities, maintaining our languages and carrying our cultures forward.
Today, First Nations are not simply participants in Canada’s economy. We are governments, employers, business owners, investors, rights holders and economic partners.
Here in the Yukon, our Final and Self-Government Agreements provide a foundation for a different economic relationship—one where First Nations exercise jurisdiction, make decisions about our lands and participate meaningfully in the prosperity created from our territories.
As Canada once again talks about building big—new mines, energy projects, housing, infrastructure and transportation corridors—we must also commit to building right.
First Nations cannot be viewed simply as a workforce to build projects on our lands. We must be at the decision-making table from the beginning, with opportunities for ownership, procurement, investment, training and careers, and a fair share of the wealth generated from our territories.
First Nations have always contributed to the prosperity of this country. Our opportunity now is to build an economy that recognizes that contribution and ensures the next generation never has to choose between opportunity and identity.
Today, we honour our workers, our Elders who opened doors that were once closed to us, and the generations who will walk through them.
Shäw níthän.
Grand Chief Math’ieya Alatini
Council of Yukon First Nations
