Native issues will be on the agenda for the first ministers meeting in Canada on January 16.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the meeting after issuing an apology for Canada's treatment of former residential school students. Internal e-mails cited by The Globe and Mail indicate Harper may have shifted his thinking about Native issues.

According to a former aide, Harper never took an interest in Native issues. The aide wrote a controversial book about First Nations that was critical of Native policy. Harper embraced the book.

But the deputy minister of Indian Affairs wrote in an e-mail that Harper "has had a personal transformation and this [apology] may have a substantial impact on his worldview." Harper met with residential school survivors prior to issuing the apology.

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Residential schools apology deeply moved Harper, changed his views (The Globe and Mail 1/6)