Proponents say federal loan guarantee program would help right historical wrongs perpetrated against Indigenous Peoples, while helping to ensure critically needed national infrastructure gets built.
First Nations communities want a piece of the several hundred billion dollars’ worth of infrastructure projects being planned across Canada over the next decade. Builders want to give it to them, but the barriers First Nations face when trying to access financing is holding dealmaking back.
“When you are part owner of a project and can sit at the table and say ‘I don’t want this,’ that is a very powerful thing, more so than the government saying they want to engage and consult with us as First Nations people,” said Andrew John, general manager of the Miawpukek First Nation in Southern Newfoundland.
The source of the problem can be traced to 1876 with the passage of the federal Indian Act, which despite various amendments in recent decades, retains many of its original provisions. One of the provisions that has survived to this day bans Indigenous communities from owning the land on their own reserves.
That is exactly what occurred as recently as 2012, Mr. Edwards said, when a group of 16 First Nations in Northern British Columbia had successfully negotiated an equity stake in the Pacific Trails pipeline. Despite having a deal in hand, the only financing available to them was an unsecured loan with a prohibitively high interest rate.
“A national program that is sector-agnostic would empower Indigenous nations to decide which deals are right for them.” “Governments have access to a lower cost of borrowing and that facilitates the direct investment that will make a substantial difference in overall Indigenous reconciliation,” Ms. Hansen said.“We have to be able to move at the speed of business and provide the funds for these projects to get off the ground,” he said. “Otherwise we are just giving lip service to the idea of economic reconciliation.
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