Jun 08, 2023
Canada will not achieve Indigenous reconciliation or reach net zero carbon emissions without Indigenous equity participation
OTTAWA — Canada was formed by glacial erosion and federal government policy moves at much the same pace.
Consider a hypothetical critical minerals project on First Nations land in Canada. If an Indigenous proponent signed a guaranteed supply agreement with the U.S. government, the Americans would underwrite the loan required to secure capital under title 3 of the Defence Production Act. Yet, Ottawa offers no such loan guarantees.
The need for First Nations to secure competitive capital rates to participate in big natural resources and infrastructure projects was the subject of a major lobbying effort on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, led by the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), a grouping of 140 First Nations from across Canada.
An indication of how important the issue is to the rest of Canada can be gleaned by the fact that other members of the delegation briefing officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council Office and Finance Canada came from Canada’s biggest private sector hitters — Rio Tinto, Cenovus, Enbridge, CIBC, RBC and Hydro One.
Read More: https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/john-ivison-the-case-for-backing-indigenous-loans