First Nations concerns slow creation of Crown corporation

WINNIPEG — Legislation to create a new Crown corporation is hung up, in part, on First Nations’ concerns the entity would override the government’s duty to consult individual nations before launching projects.

“We’re having challenges, I think, creating an endorsement or support for … the draft legislation,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization that represents 33 First Nations.

Negotiations are underway on legislation to create the Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corp., which will work with Ottawa’s Major Projects Office and Arctic Gateway Group on the proposed expansion of the Port of Churchill.

The southern chiefs group is part of a board that meets regularly with the provincial government; Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie deemed the group the interim Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corp.

Legislation to create the Crown corporation was expected to be introduced this spring, but didn’t materialize. Instead, it could be brought in this fall.

The board could oversee future infrastructure builds, Premier Wab Kinew has said. It would be split equally between Indigenous and provincial government officials and would allow for revenue sharing.

“I always worry about setting these things up and then they become this separate group now that starts making decisions on behalf of First Nations governments,” Daniels said about the corporation.

“I know the province wants to create a simplified process for this. We’re of the same opinion, but we have challenges when there can be not-well-thought-out outcomes that do not benefit our region.”

The chiefs’ organization is seeking clarity on economic opportunities, how regions will be prioritized for investment and how environmental processes will unfurl, among other things, Daniels said.

Chief David Monias, of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, is concerned jurisdictions won’t be consulted on projects that directly affect their regions.

“We are not anti-development. We are not anti-prosperity,” Monias said.

“We are just trying to make sure that we protect the land and the waters, but also, at the same time, to make sure that the people in the communities where these projects are encroaching on are consulted and they receive free prior informed consent before they implement any national projects.”

The new corporation won’t override but “enhance” the government’s duty to consult, Bushie said in a statement.

It will be the first of its kind in Canada, he noted.

“(It) will ensure Indigenous nations see major benefits from major projects, including revenue sharing and job creation,” Bushie wrote.

Monias expressed wariness, saying the province and federal government have yet to uphold promises made to First Nations in the Northern Flood Agreement of 1977.

He’s also eyeing the corporation’s ownership: it could be wholly owned by the provincial government.

A majority of resources — such as minerals, waterways and forestry — fall in First Nations’ territory, he said. Being limited to a minority stake is “not acceptable,” he added.

The interim Crown corporation has roughly a dozen members, said David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation. He appointed Anita Campbell, the Métis government’s finance minister.

“There’s nothing serious that’s holding us back because we still have an appointed board,” Chartrand said of the corporation.

“I’m very pleased with the direction that the government is choosing,” he continued. “(It’s) giving us a chance to clear out all of the bugs in the system … and (have) a better understanding of how we can move national projects.”

The duty to consult and the Port of Churchill are regular conversation points. Each member will likely have a different approach on how they want to be consulted; it’s an “issue of complexity,” Chartrand said.

“We’ve still got a ways to go — outside of this board itself — just on Section 35 rights in general in this country.”

The Métis, First Nations and provincial governments on the board appear to be getting more comfortable with one another, he added. He said it’s important to get a federal green-light for the Port of Churchill’s expansion.

“It’s a game changer for our entire province,” Chartrand said. “If we let this thing sail by us, then the ship is gone.”

Kinew said Ottawa wants to export liquefied natural gas through the port by 2030. It could take that long to get the Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corporation running, said Opposition Leader Obby Khan.

“There’s no legislation. We have no idea what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, how they’re making decisions,” the Tory leader said. “(There’s) no accountability and no transparency.”

He likened the entity to “another layer of bureaucracy” when Indigenous organizations such as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs already exist.

Other provinces are inking major-projects deals without such a Crown corporation, he said, adding early consultation with Indigenous nations is crucial and that more information on the Crown corporation is needed.

Khan said he was in Alberta earlier this year and learned about the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp., which he called “amazing.”

The Crown corporation, built in 2019, touts a $3-billion loan guarantee program for Indigenous nations to invest in natural resource and infrastructure programs.

Treaties must be honoured as a “sacred relationship” between First Nations and the federal government, said Gordon Blackburde, co-director of the Treaty and Aboriginal Rights Research Centre of Manitoba.

» Winnipeg Free Press