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Alberta

Indigenous leaders see progress in 2023 but continue to advocate for national loan guarantee program

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Wolf Midstream and its partners in the Northern Lakeland Indigenous Alliance participate in a signing ceremony celebrating a $103 million loan guarantee from the AIOC to obtain a 43% stake in the Access NGL Pipeline System. Photo courtesy AIOC

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Shawn Logan

“Things are starting to work but self-determination is the ultimate goal.”

When John Desjarlais reflects on 2023, he admits he had feared a growing national tide of Indigenous investment in key energy projects was due to hit a speedbump.

Instead, as a new year approaches, the executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network (IRN) says any doubts have been replaced by optimism that the positive momentum of the last few years will flow into 2024.

“I’m feeling more optimistic now. I’m pleased to see the level of conversation being had with Indigenous leaders,” he said.

“I think there is growing opportunity for Indigenous participation across entire value chains, for board and executive positions, and more meaningful involvement. I think we’re really going to see the needle move in 2024.”

John Desjarlais, executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network in Bragg Creek, Alta. Photo by Dave Chidley for the Canadian Energy Centre

Despite the year’s slow start, Desjarlais said 2023 became something of a bellwether for how the rest of the world views the involvement of First Nations and Métis in Canada’s oil and gas industry.

In April, Desjarlais joined a delegation of Indigenous leaders in Ottawa to meet face-to-face with diplomats from some of the world’s strongest economies. Joined by Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith, First Nations LNG Alliance CEO Karen Ogen and former Enoch Cree First Nation chief Billy Morin, the delegation quickly learned not only was there an appetite for Canadian energy, but for Indigenous knowledge and participation on the critical file.

“Every official had a real desire to really understand Indigenous sentiment around resource development. There was a sincere desire to learn from our perspective,” Desjarlais told the CEC following the meetings with representatives from G7 allies Germany, France, Japan and the United States, as well as Poland and India.

However, while potential international energy partners are intrigued by the potential of relationships with Indigenous energy suppliers, a significant hurdle remains – the need for a national loan guarantee program that would empower more Indigenous ownership in community-transforming projects, particularly oil and gas.

Dale Swampy, president of the National Coalition of Chiefs, is a veteran in the fight for First Nations and Métis to fully benefit from critical resources to directly benefit communities. And he is hopeful there is growing recognition in Ottawa that enabling self-determination is an effective and enduring pathway to prosperity.

“The only way to defeat on-reserve poverty is to create ways to employ people,” he said.

“And the only industry that gives us this opportunity is the natural resources industry.”

Alberta has been a leader in helping open doors to indigenous ownership of major resource projects, launching the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) in 2019. As the year came to a close, the AIOC announced two more major deals, which will see the total investment backed by the fund to date reach more than $680 million, directly impacting 42 Indigenous groups.

Dale Swampy President National Coalition of Chiefs. Canadian Energy Centre photo

In what marks the second-largest loan guarantee backed by the provincial corporation, 12 Indigenous communities will invest $150 million to obtain 85 per cent ownership in oil and gas midstream infrastructure in the Marten Hills and Nipisi areas of the Clearwater play in Northern Alberta.

While the ink was still drying, two days later another deal saw five First Nations in northwestern Alberta enter into a $20.5 million partnership with NuVista Energy Ltd. for majority ownership of an emissions-reducing cogeneration unit at the Wembley gas plant in the County of Grande Prairie.

The AIOC’s success saw the Alberta government increase its loan guarantee capacity to $2 billion this year, and it’s set to increase it further to $3 billion for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Desjarlais’ IRN spent most of 2023 advocating for a federal version of the AIOC, to emulate its success at the national level.

Chief Greg Desjarlais of Frog Lake First Nation signs a historic agreement between Enbridge and 23 First Nation and Métis communities in September 2022. The communities acquired, collectively, an 11.57% non-operating interest in seven Enbridge-operated pipelines in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta for $1.12 billion on September 22, 2022. Photo courtesy Enbridge

In its fall financial update, the federal government announced it would unveil a new Indigenous loan guarantee program when it sets its 2024 budget this spring. But there has been no commitment to include oil and gas projects as part of the program.

Desjarlais said the fact a program has been promised is a good first step – now Indigenous leaders need to convince the federal government that imposing restrictions will only impede economic reconciliation.

“It looks like there is a program coming but we have to take a look at the exclusions,” he said.

“What we really want to see is less paternalism. Things are starting to work but self-determination is the ultimate goal.”

Desjarlais said the last few years have seen significant progress when it comes to Indigenous involvement in resource projects.

On the west coast, Indigenous-owned Cedar LNG and Ksi Lisims LNG will be at the vanguard of Canada’s first significant foray into exporting the in-demand fuel for customers in Asia. While several Indigenous communities across western Canada are investing in critical infrastructure like pipelines and carbon capture and storage projects.

For Swampy, that progress is long overdue. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that Indigenous communities no longer want to be reliant on government supports – they want to take control of their own destinies.

“They want to take part in the prosperity that comes with oil and gas, and they want to own it,” he said.

“All we ask is that we be involved when it comes to the question about land and resources. We don’t want to just be part of these consultations, we want to lead projects.”

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Alberta

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

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Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:

“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.

“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.

“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.

“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.

“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.

“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”

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Alberta

Energy sector will fuel Alberta economy and Canada’s exports for many years to come

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From the Fraser Institute

By Jock Finlayson

By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.

Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.

In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.

Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.

The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.

Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.

Jock Finlayson

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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