The Awasis solar project on the Cowessess First Nation. Indigenous communities and businesses have led many Canadian clean energy initiatives over the past 15 years.HO
James Jenkins is executive director at Indigenous Clean Energy.
Investing in infrastructure has emerged as a cornerstone of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s economic strategy, as the federal government is looking for “nation-building” projects that can be expedited. As part of this vision, Ottawa must keep in mind the booming clean energy sector that has been bolstered by hundreds of successful Indigenous partnerships.
Indigenous ownership or co-ownership is now common for new renewable generation, transmission and energy storage projects in every region of Canada. Indigenous communities and businesses have led clean energy initiatives across the country over the past 15 years, but other levels of government also deserve credit.
Provinces and territories, as well as utilities, are making major strides to address electricity supply demands and affordability concerns. The federal government, for its part, has played a role in supporting Indigenous capacity-building and community readiness, as well as writing down the risks of project development.
Is there a model of Indigenous participation that can ensure the support of impacted communities? Perhaps, but most Indigenous communities in Canada have complicated histories when it comes to resource extraction. Prior to the 1982 Constitution Act, Indigenous and treaty rights had limited legal protection, and were routinely disregarded by federal and provincial agencies.
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Over the past four decades, a series of Supreme Court decisions upholding these rights has changed the landscape. There is now an opportunity to start rebuilding the trust required to develop meaningful partnerships with Indigenous nations. However, the current urgency to get mega-projects off the ground may clash with the time needed to rebuild that trust.
Clean energy is one area where Indigenous communities have willingly partnered with resource development with outstanding results. There are now more than 600 electricity generation projects that are owned or co-owned by an Indigenous community or organization, including hundreds of large projects. Collectively, these projects provide hundreds of millions of dollars in net revenue that is further reinvested by Indigenous communities.
The impact of Indigenous-led clean energy is a reality today is enormous across the country. Most provinces have built community-led clean energy projects into their procurement strategy to address the rapidly growing demand for electricity across Canada. The Atlantic provinces and Manitoba are anticipating projects that will bring billions of dollars in capital to support these initiatives.
For the provinces with large metropolitan centres that have adopted this strategy – British Columbia and Quebec – the amount of capital associated with Indigenous clean energy projects under development may be in the tens of billions. These renewable “nation-building” projects are already bringing investment, jobs and supporting industries to their respective regions.
How do we ensure that these sometimes-overlooked nation-building projects are successful in these economically uncertain times? First and foremost, we should acknowledge, support and invest in the programs that have made the growth of Indigenous-led clean energy possible.
The market for large renewable energy projects is straightforward, and once built, attracting capital or investors is easier than many other large ventures. However, navigating the planning, permit approval and other pre-construction stages can be difficult, especially in regions with limited capacity to support this process.
The federal government has played a key role in providing grant programs that have allowed renewable projects to move forward with Indigenous partners. These programs are located across half a dozen federal departments. Together, they provide a framework that has helped to move projects along, especially in regions farther from major urban centres and in off-grid communities.
These programs transcend party lines and have their roots in the Harper government with major programs such as the Clean Energy Fund. They were renewed and expanded under the Trudeau government’s Clean Energy Plan. Today, grant programs in conjunction with strategic investments from the Canada Infrastructure Bank have provided the stability needed for many provinces to put renewable energy at the forefront of their electricity procurement strategies.
There is always a need to review and improve government programs, but the federal role in the rise of Indigenous ownership in Canada’s electricity generation infrastructure deserves attention. Electricity demand is predicted to double or triple over the next 20 years, making these projects more crucial than ever.
Mr. Carney has rebranded the federal Liberals practically overnight, and we now hear the word “austerity” entering the conversation. While any federal government must react to changes in the global economy, the desire for nation-building initiatives should not obscure the success of federal investment in Indigenous renewable energy projects, which have already reaped dividends, with potentially many more to come.