This month, Ottawa launched its Major Projects Office to help transform the Canadian economy.Jesse Winter/Reuters
More than 500 years ago, Indigenous peoples on the lands that are now Canada were first asked to make room for the rest of us. More than two centuries have passed since the Royal Proclamation of 1763 promised to protect Indigenous rights and titles. It has been ten years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its calls to action. And on Sept. 30, Canada will mark its fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The federal statutory holiday was created to encourage reflection on the poisonous legacy of the Indian residential school system and to seek reconciliation for wrongs committed in Canada’s name. It will be marked, doubtless, by politicians who will stand in the spotlight to reiterate their support for Indigenous communities who have been, too often, left out of the prosperity built on Canada’s resources.
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This year, however, there is a significant opportunity for Canada to commit to meaningful action – to meet the TRC’s most fundamental ask, which is to take concrete steps to improve the lives of Indigenous people in Canada.
The Major Projects Office should favour initiatives that offer opportunities for economic reconciliation.
There is a persistent and shameful gap that divides Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canada, measured by inequities in housing, health care, justice and education. That inequity has deep roots that are perpetuated by an economy that does not encourage Indigenous participation.
This month, Ottawa launched its Major Projects Office to help transform the Canadian economy. Its purpose is to help weather the turbulence of trade wars and economic disruption: “We must build critical nation-building projects at speeds not seen in generations,” the office’s mandate says.
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The office will select projects that will be fast-tracked for approval, while respecting the Crown’s legal duty to consult with Indigenous peoples. There is also a vague promise to ensure that Indigenous peoples derive economic benefits from major project development. But of the handful of potential projects identified already – representing investments of more than $60-billion – only a couple of them feature partnerships with local First Nations.
That isn’t enough. Some Indigenous leaders have voiced concerns that in the rush to push new major projects to completion, Canada will further diminish treaty rights or otherwise alienate them from their traditional territories. Some are already preparing for a path of conflict and court challenges.
In a bid to avoid conflict, Ottawa has appointed an Indigenous Advisory Council created to act as a liaison with rights holders affected by potential major projects, although the council members don’t have a say over which are advanced.
The new Major Projects Office will be based in Calgary and led by veteran energy executive Dawn Farrell, a former president and chief executive officer of Trans Mountain. Ms. Farrell oversaw the completion of the pipeline project linking Alberta and the B.C. coast, and through that process, she will be painfully aware that opposition by Indigenous communities can delay or even kill major resource projects.
But if the “national interest” gave great weight to Indigenous interests, Canada will find there is no shortage of potential developments that do have Indigenous participation – whether through ownership or revenue-sharing agreements.
A tougher bar to clear is one that gives Indigenous communities a say over economic development in their territories. That would be an ideal, but difficult to deliver. The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, now finally in operation after a massive bailout from the federal government, was almost derailed due to opposition from coastal First Nations, and any new oil pipeline to the west coast out of Alberta will almost certainly face familiar opponents.
Even Indigenous-backed projects don’t always promise smooth sailing. On Sept. 15, both Ottawa and B.C. approved a liquefied natural gas project on the territory of the Nisga’a Nation, which is a financial partner in the Ksi Lisims project in northwest B.C. It is a proposal that could fit Canada’s major projects ambitions, but the pipeline that will feed the plant is opposed by other Indigenous communities, and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip has condemned the project as “a recipe for confrontation.”
So with the clear-eyed understanding that even projects with Indigenous partners may face hurdles, Canada should aim to build a new economy that offers a remedy to past wrongs. There is a chance to do better for the prosperity of all.