Bill C-10 Modern Treaty Implementation

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An Act Respecting the Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation

Short Title: Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation Act

Bill Type:  House Government 

Bill Sponsor:  Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations

Status: Second Reading — Senate. Bill C‑10 passed Third Reading in the House of Commons on September 21, 2026 and received First Reading in the Senate on September 28, 2026. This Bill has not passed yet.

Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

What is this Bill For?

Bill C‑10 creates a permanent, taxpayer-funded Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation to review and audit how Federal Government institutions implement modern Treaties with Indigenous groups. The Commissioner can review Federal implementation activities, obtain relevant Government information subject to security and confidentiality rules and issue public reports to Parliament. The land, resource, jurisdiction and financial terms being implemented are contained in more than 30 separate Treaty Documents rather than repeated in Bill C‑10.

WHO GAINS POWER

  • The Commissioner gains authority to review and audit Federal Government activities related to modern Treaty implementation, obtain relevant Government information and report findings to Parliament. Government must consult modern Treaty partners before naming a candidate and the Appointment requires approval from both the House of Commons and Senate. The Commissioner has the rank and powers of a Deputy Minister, serves a seven-year term and may be reappointed once. Legal protections apply to work performed in good faith. Bill C‑10 does not create a separate independent body to review the Commissioner’s individual audits, methods or conclusions.
  • Indigenous modern Treaty partners — more than 30 groups — must be consulted on the Commissioner’s Appointment and certain changes to the Act. They may request reviews, receive relevant draft findings and provide written responses for the final report. They do not hold a legal veto over the Appointment because both Houses of Parliament must approve the Commissioner.
  • Bill C‑10 does not create Treaty land, resource or Law-making powers. Those powers come from the modern Treaties that the Commissioner will oversee. Bills C‑21 and C‑27 show that Treaty terms and Self-Government Laws may prevail over conflicting Federal Law within defined subjects, citizens and lands. C‑10 creates oversight of Federal Government implementation but does not create matching authority to audit how the Self-Governing entities use those powers, spend public funds or meet their own Treaty commitments.


WHO LOSES POWER

  • Federal Government institutions lose some control over how their modern Treaty work is reviewed. The Commissioner can examine their records, audit their performance and report failures publicly to Parliament.
  • C‑10 audits whether Federal Government has fulfilled its Treaty duties. It does not create the same oversight for Indigenous Governments receiving public funds, delivering services or carrying out their own Treaty obligations.
  • In some Treaty areas, Treaty rules or Indigenous Self-Government Laws can take priority over conflicting Federal Law. C‑10 checks whether Federal Government follows those rules. It does not audit how the Indigenous Government uses the authority it receives.
  • Parliament and taxpayers do not receive one combined record showing the lands, powers, financial duties and conflict rules contained in every modern Treaty. Those details must be found in more than 30 separate Treaty Documents.
  • Provinces, Municipal Governments, property owners and neighbouring Indigenous communities may face uncertainty where Treaty lands, asserted land claims and other jurisdictions overlap. Bill C‑10 does not create a process for settling those conflicts.
  • Indigenous Treaty citizens may also lose accountability if their own Government is not required to provide an equally independent audit of its spending, services and decisions. Bill C‑10 reviews Federal Government implementation only.


WHO GAINS MONEY

  • The Commissioner’s Office receives taxpayer-funded salaries, staff and operating resources. Bill C‑10 does not state the Office’s annual cost. Funding must be approved through Federal Appropriations and reported through Government financial records. The Commissioner holds the rank and powers of a Deputy Minister for a seven-year term and may be reappointed once.
  • Indigenous modern Treaty partners gain leverage to extract more Treaty transfers by citing audit findings, with land claims, resource revenue-sharing, compensation packages and jurisdictional transfers potentially transferring billions in taxpayer funds and Crown lands — with no disclosure required
  • Indigenous bands gain economic control over adjacent Fee Simple (privately owned) properties through access fees, tolls, permits and rental restrictions

WHO LOSES MONEY

  • Taxpayers fund the Commissioner's office, expanded Treaty obligations and legal and compliance costs with no audit of how Indigenous partners spend Treaty funds and may fund land claims, resource transfers and revenue-sharing agreements without knowing the financial terms or total cost
  • Property owners lose rental income when Bands ban short-term rentals or commercial use and face devalued properties with no compensation or appeal
  • Workers — cleaners, property managers and maintenance contractors — lose jobs when rental bans eliminate the short-term rental economy
  • Canadians near treaty lands may face access fees, tolls or denial of passage with no legal recourse

THE CATCH

⚠️Bill C-10 creates an oversight office that audits Ottawa — but leaves Indigenous partners, Treaty terms and taxpayer costs entirely unexamined.

⚠️ Commissioner Audits Ottawa — Not Indigenous Partners — The Commissioner has authority to audit Federal Government institutions only. No mandate exists to audit how Indigenous Treaty partners spend public funds, deliver services or meet their own commitments. Ottawa gets scrutinized. Indigenous leadership does not.

⚠️ Treaty Details Outside Bill C‑10 — Bill C‑10 does not reproduce the land, resource, jurisdiction and financial terms contained in more than 30 modern Treaties. Those terms must be found in the individual Treaty Documents. C‑10 therefore creates one oversight Office for a large network of separate Treaty systems without placing their combined boundaries, powers and costs in one public record.

⚠️ No Disclosure of Which Lands Fall Under Indigenous Sovereign Control — The Bill does not warn Canadians which Crown lands, roads or Fee Simple (privately owned) properties will fall under Indigenous sovereign control as a result of Treaty implementation. That information is not required to be made public.

⚠️ Foreign Negotiation Without Federal Approval — Modern Treaties may allow Indigenous partners to negotiate directly with foreign governments or corporations — including for critical resources, Arctic territory or strategic infrastructure — without Federal approval or National Security review.

⚠️ No Accountability to Band Members — The Bill treats Indigenous leadership as representing their communities with no transparency requirement and no accountability to Band members. Band members have no audit mechanism to hold their own leadership accountable.

⚠️ Office Cost Not Stated — Bill C‑10 creates a permanent Commissioner’s Office but does not state its annual operating cost. Salaries, staff, consultants, travel and operations will require future Federal Appropriations and will be reported through Government financial records.

⚠️ Little Shuswap Lake — Property Rights Already Being Restricted — At Little Shuswap Lake, Fee Simple (privately owned) property owners have already been told they can no longer rent out their summer properties under Indigenous land-use authority. No compensation was offered. No appeal mechanism exists. This Bill creates the oversight office that enforces the Treaties enabling that authority — without requiring public disclosure of which other properties across Canada face the same restrictions.

⚠️ Explanatory Notes End Mid-Sentence — The official Explanatory Notes end abruptly before the final sentence is completed. The published notes therefore do not provide a complete plain-language explanation of the final provision.