A former federal minister of Indian and Northern Affairs will lead renewed efforts to consult with and establish partnerships with First Nations and Aboriginal communities in British Columbia and Alberta for Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the company said today.
Jim Prentice is currently senior executive vice-president and vice-chairman of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which has agreed to make him available for the role because it believes in the importance of the pipeline project to both First Nations and to Canada.
His efforts will build on agreements already in place with 26 existing aboriginal equity partners.
“I am doing this because I believe that First Nations should be full partners in resource development and they should be owners of projects like the Northern Gateway,” Prentice said in a news release.
“This project can bring jobs, economic opportunity, community development and educational opportunities to First Nation Canadians. This can be achieved while protecting the environment and respecting First Nation’s environmental priorities,” he said. “I have repeatedly said that the Northern Gateway project represents an opportunity for Aboriginal Peoples and the country.”
When the Joint Review Panel recommended the federal government approve Northern Gateway with 209 conditions, Enbridge said that was only one step in the process and that it had some hard work ahead of it, said Al Monaco, Enbridge president and chief executive officer. The federal government is to release its decision on Northern Gateway by the end of June.
“We made it our first priority to reach out in a respectful way to aboriginal communities – and we’re committed to putting our best foot forward to further build trust,” he said. “We believe Jim Prentice is uniquely suited to help us fulfill that promise.”
Enbridge values the constructive relationships it has built with its existing aboriginal equity partners and will continue to work with them to realize meaningful opportunities while ensuring that it safeguard B.C.’s natural environment, Monaco added.
Steve Williams, president and chief executive officer of Suncor Energy Inc., speaking on behalf of the Northern Gateway Partners, shippers on the line, also supported the appointment.
“The partners and Enbridge are keen to listen and open up further dialogue with aboriginal communities,” he said. “We welcome the role that Jim Prentice will lead to help us build trust and construct respectful economic partnerships.”
Prentice has spent 30 years working closely with First Nations. As a lawyer, during the 1990s, he worked as an independent negotiator for the Alberta government in the successful resolution of First Nation claims in northern Alberta, later serving as the co-chair of Canada’s Specific Claims Commission. As Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Prentice negotiated the residential schools settlement agreement. He also reformed the specific claims process.
Prentice , who has consistently advocated economic partnerships with First Nations, oversaw the Maa-nulth and Tsawwassen First Nation Settlements in B.C. and the conclusion of the Gwaii Hanas Marine Conservation Area Agreement with the Haida. He has consistently advocated economic partnerships with First Nations.
Since returning to the private sector in 2010, Prentice has also consistently advocated for the inclusion of First Nations when it comes to constructing West Coast access for Canadian energy exports. In 2010, at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, he spoke of the need for a West Coast energy corridor to move beyond regulatory approval to “full social license,” including “the central participation of the First Nations of British Columbia.”