What was the Kelowna Accord?

The Kelowna Accord was a federal-provincial-territorial-Indigenous agreement signed on November 25, 2005 by Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government, all 10 provinces, three territories, and five Indigenous national organisations. The Accord committed 5 billion dollars over 10 years to closing socio-economic gaps between Indigenous peoples and other Canadians in education, health, housing, and economic opportunities. The Accord was largely abandoned by Stephen Harper's Conservative government after the January 23, 2006 federal election, less than two months after the signing.

The Accord was the culmination of an 18-month federal-Indigenous policy dialogue led by Paul Martin and Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell. The November 24 to 25, 2005 First Ministers' Meeting on Aboriginal Issues was held at the Coastland Hotel in Kelowna, British Columbia. Federal and provincial Premiers and territorial leaders attended, alongside the leaders of the Assembly of First Nations (Phil Fontaine), the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Jose Kusugak), the Métis National Council (Clément Chartier), the Native Women's Association of Canada (Bev Jacobs), and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (Patrick Brazeau).

The Kelowna Accord's commitments included: 1.8 billion dollars over five years for education (closing high-school graduation gaps, expanding post-secondary support, and tripling capital spending for Indigenous schools); 1.3 billion dollars over five years for health (closing infant mortality and chronic-disease gaps); 1.6 billion dollars over five years for housing (off-reserve and on-reserve housing programmes, including 200 million dollars for Inuit housing); 200 million dollars for economic opportunities; and 200 million dollars for capacity building and accountability. The Accord was supplemented by an additional 5 billion dollars in second-stage commitments after five years, totalling 10 billion over 10 years.

The Accord was severely affected by subsequent events. Two days before the Kelowna ceremonies, Paul Martin's Liberal minority government lost a confidence vote (November 28, 2005), triggering the January 23, 2006 federal election. Stephen Harper's Conservatives won the election and took office on February 6, 2006. The new Conservative government did not provide the funding committed in the Accord. The May 2006 federal budget provided only about 450 million dollars for Indigenous priorities (about 9 per cent of the Kelowna commitments). The Liberals introduced private-member's bills (notably former Prime Minister Paul Martin's Bill C-292 in 2007) to implement the Accord, which passed the House of Commons but stalled in the Conservative-controlled Senate. The Kelowna Accord remains a touchstone in Indigenous policy debate, often cited as an example of comprehensive Indigenous-Crown agreement that was politically abandoned. Some Kelowna commitments were subsequently reintroduced under Trudeau Liberal governments from 2015 onward.