Canada’s First Nations want action, not just acknowledgements

The time has come for First Nations to be active participants in the development of Canadian natural resources, says Dale Swampy.

Dale Swampy, founder and president of the National Coalition of Chiefs.

Indigenous entrepreneurs are finding their voice and they have a message for natural-resource industries: We want in.

“Canadians must recognize the rights that First Nations have to the land, and that First Nations communities must be full participants in the development of our abundant natural resources,” says Dale Swampy, founder and president of the National Coalition of Chiefs (NCC).

Indigenous-enterprise partnerships have the potential to lift Indigenous communities out of poverty while building a strong voice in support of a renewed, reconciled resource economy.

“First Nations-led partnerships will build a stronger voice for Canada’s natural resource industry . . . We do not have that voice now,” Swampy argues.

Equity-based partnerships in new development projects are becoming an increasingly popular and meaningful way to commit to economic reconciliation.

These kinds of partnerships “will pull our next generation out of poverty and showcase what our people can do to change the global image of Canada’s natural resource sector,” Swampy continued.

The NCC joined the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS) as a program partner for its event in Vancouver on May 2022. The IPSS was formed in response to the growing demand for practical guidance in how First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and their enterprise partners build meaningful partnerships as they work together for shared success. The event is returning on June 1 and 2, 2023.

“IPSS is an excellent platform to communicate what it means to be part of First Nations partnerships in energy, mining, forestry and other natural-resource development projects,” said Swampy, a member of the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta.

“We think it is the First Nations that should be leading the development of Canada’s natural resources to show how these partnerships with industry can ensure environmental protection and sustainable practices.

“The time has come for First Nations to be active participants in the development of Canadian natural resources, to ensure we are not still living in poverty and despair a generation from now. Most Canadians know this and more First Nations support the natural resource sectors, like oil and gas, than oppose it,” said Swampy, whose coalition, is committed to working with the natural-resource industry for a shared prosperity.

Those views are reflected in an IPSS-IPSOS poll that showed 72 percent of Canadians agree: Natural-resource development is a good way for Indigenous communities to reduce poverty and build economic independence.

Seven in ten Canadians also agree that “natural resource development is a good way for Indigenous communities to create skilled and well-paying jobs.”

Another key finding of the national poll is that nearly half of Canadians agree that “Indigenous opposition to natural-resource development projects is often exaggerated by non-Indigenous groups who oppose these projects for other reasons.”

In the oil and gas sector, for example, Swampy said governments and the industry have been too passive, allowing coordinated groups to take advantage of the poverty and desperation experienced by many Indigenous people.

“Instead of putting on work boots and making a good living from the sector, some young people are paid by ENGOs (environmental non-governmental organizations) to protest at blockades and aggressively challenge authorities,” he wrote in a previous commentary.

“These acts of defiance give those who want to shut down the industry the distortion they are looking for to make it appear there is widespread Indigenous opposition to oil and gas. This is despite the extensive support the vast majority of Indigenous communities and leadership have towards these projects.

“It is time for a much more sophisticated strategy that matches the efforts of the sector’s detractors and brings greater synchronicity and purpose to all of our efforts to demonstrate to the world we are committed partners in prosperity.”

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate that commitment to responsibility and reconciliation lies in partnerships, including entrepreneurial equity-based models.

“What Canada’s First Nations want is action, not just acknowledgements. . . . We need reconciliation that has real value, not empty gestures. That’s what we want.”

Find out more about the Indigenous Partnership Success Showcase, coming June 1 and 2, 2023, in person in Vancouver and online at www.Indigenoussucess.ca/tickets.