Indigenous business leaders support push to build major projects — but want ‘terms that work for us’

Indigenous business leaders gathered outside Calgary this week for an energy industry conference say they’re not opposed to building major projects quickly — in fact, they’re all for it. 

But as Ontario and B.C. pass bills criticized by First Nations in those provinces for trampling on their rights in the service of fast-tracking infrastructure, they warn that Canada risks backsliding into a more contentious relationship with Indigenous communities that will ultimately delay projects further.

“Broadly speaking, are First Nations or Indigenous communities opposed to development? Absolutely not. Are we opposed to resource projects? Absolutely not. Energy generation? Absolutely not. We want to participate on terms that work for us,” said John Rowinski, CEO of the Zhooniya Makak Limited Partnership with Hiawatha First Nation, who is from the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte near Belleville, Ont.

“Frankly, they would likely find much less opposition to these projects if they showed a willingness to talk in advance as opposed to after the fact,” he said in an interview. 

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Amid an increasingly tumultuous trade relationship with the U.S., politicians at both the federal and provincial levels have been scrambling to show they can get major projects built quickly and boost the country’s economy. 

But recent bills passed in Ontario and B.C.  aimed at speeding up major projects have already been subject to significant criticism from First Nations.

In both provinces, the legislation includes an aim to fast-track projects that could include critical mineral mines and has been met with concern from First Nations that it could trample over their rights. 

In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has said he will consult with First Nations over the coming months, while in B.C., Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said she will “work to come back together” and heal any rifts that have been created.

The federal Liberal government also tabled a bill Friday that pledges to advance national interest projects, in part by speeding up approvals from five years to two.

The Assembly of First Nations, which met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, has previously said that while it supports efforts to protect Canada from geopolitical uncertainty, it had concerns that draft legislation could “violate many collective rights of First Nations.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal government said the proposed act recognizes that Indigenous consultation and partnership are key to building projects in the national interest.

“To that end, Section 35 rights are constitutionally protected. There is no possibility of any government overriding those rights. This legislation acknowledges that and considers Indigenous consultation and partnership as integral,” said Gabriel Brunet, a spokesperson for Dominic LeBlanc, who is the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs.

Business leaders gathered in Alberta this week say they agree with the urgency of getting projects built and diversifying trade away from the U.S. 

“I see Canada as one of the richest countries in the world with our resources, we just need to get it to market,” said Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance and former elected chief of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in B.C., speaking on the sidelines of the Indigenous Cleaner Energy Forum on Tsuut’ina Nation, just west of Calgary. 

Until this point, Ogen said Canada had been making progress in how capital projects are built in partnership with First Nations, with more and more communities participating through an equity stake. She pointed to the in-development Cedar LNG project off the coast of B.C., a collaboration between Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. and the Haisla First Nation.

“That’s a showcase for the rest of Canada, for the rest of B.C., that this is how projects get built.”

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Another positive step, Ogen said, is the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which facilitates access to capital for Indigenous communities and was recently doubled from $5 billion to $10 billion. 

But Ogen said the bills out of Ontario and B.C. are a move in the wrong direction, and that First Nations won’t be afraid to push back.

“If there’s going to be opposition and blockades, so be it, the government has to listen,” said Ogen, who noted the federal bill does seem to include Indigenous people, but that she hopes this inclusion is meaningful.

Steven Vaivada, CEO of Scout Engineering and a member of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, agrees. He said that while Canada certainly needs more development, governments could end up undermining their own plans if they try to rush projects forward without including First Nations. 

“Indigenous opposition occurs when rights and title and the duty to consult and free, prior and informed consent are not incorporated into these discussions and legislation that’s put forward,” he said in an interview. 

In the long run, Glenn Hudson, former chief of Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, said collaboration with First Nations will also help ensure projects are built with sufficient environmental protection. 

“That in itself will also protect the settlers of this country in terms of their sustainability going forward,” Hudson, who is also CEO of Sovereign Energy Projects, told CBC News.

As global demand for electricity ramps up, Rowinski, with the Zhooniya Makak Limited Partnership, said there’s plenty of opportunity for Canada — but dialogue between different levels of government and First Nations is critical.

“We’re very fractured as a nation right now,” he said. “We’ve got a history that we can learn from, so it’s time to sit down, roll up our sleeves and work together to build on from that history so the future is that much better.”