Publication

The Role of Indigenous People in Major Project Development: Paths for Indigenous Participation in Electricity Infrastructure

Aug 4, 2020

This paper, prepared by the First Nation Major Project Coalition (MPC), highlights the growing world examples of Indigenous ownership in major projects including energy infrastructure. The MPC is a non-profit Indigenous-led coalition of 51 First Nations across Canada (45 in British Columbia) who are interested in becoming equity owners of major projects occurring in their traditional territories. This includes energy generation, transmission and distribution networks, oil and gas pipelines, mines and ancillary operations, transportation routes, or other projects.

The intent of this discussion paper is to:

Highlight how, over the past 50 years, Indigenous people worldwide have started to pursue equity ownership of major projects and infrastructure;
Illustrate the ways that Indigenous people are capitalizing on policy and societal changes to pursue their interests, and;
Emphasize specific electrical infrastructure ownership examples for possible use by Canadian governments and First Nations.

This paper includes information on over 60 Indigenous and local community-owned electric generation, transmission and distribution projects. The Indigenous equity ownership models highlighted in the paper include questions that require further investigation to fully understand how these examples could be adapted by governments and First Nations for use in Canada.