Welcome to Drumbeats, the must -listen -to podcast
which explains why Indigenous partnerships are
the key to securing successful outcomes in natural
resource and infrastructure investment in Canada.
I'm Mark McNacca, and my co -host Robert Brandt
is unfortunately not with us today, as he has
the good luck to be at the annual powwow of the
Mohawks of the Bay of Kinty this week. We've
had many questions about the impact of the Building
Canada Act from our last podcast. So we want
to use this opportunity to share some of the
most relevant conversations during the past four
months, starting from the 2025 summit earlier
this year in April, as well as some of our most
recent Drumbeats podcasts. Last week, Rob Brant
and I discussed Bill C -5, which is two important
acts. the Free Trade and Labour Mobility Act
and the Building Canada Act. The first act focuses
on removing federal trade and labour mobility
barriers within Canada. As we've discussed many
times, the internal market in Canada is not complete.
While the Building Canada Act focuses on streamlining
federal project approvals for national interest
projects. The Act focuses on how to advance these
projects rather than whether or not to proceed
with them. It is important for you, our listeners,
to understand about the Building Canada Act.
It introduces a framework for streamlining the
federal review process for infrastructure projects
deemed to be in the national interest. These
projects will be identified by the government
over the next few months and will be listed separately,
and I'm sure we'll be discussing them on our
podcast. The Building Canada Act. is focused
not whether to proceed, but how to advance these
projects, potentially impacting existing federal
review processes, like the Impact Assessment
Act. The Act also provides a provision for consultation
with regulatory bodies and allows for exemptions
from certain laws and regulations for designated
projects. And of course, there is a sunset clause.
limiting the streamlined approval process to
a five -year period for new projects unless extended
specifically by legislation. However, the Act
has also been divisive, as there are significant
impacts of the Act not only on the environment,
but on Indigenous rights and the duty to consult.
During the past two years, corporate institutional
investors, asset managers, and shareholders as
well as professional strategic advisors, have
counted on the Canadian Indigenous Investment
Platform, our summit, our weekly newsletters
and podcasts to provide them with the foundation
to succeed in Canada. Given the impact of the
Act, we want to review with you some of the key
outtakes from the 2025 Summit, so you are ready
for when the qualifying projects under the Building
Canada Act are announced during the next few
months. The summit we hosted earlier this year
in April was also the largest gathering of Indigenous
peoples ever hosted in the UK for at least 300
years. We had over 144 senior delegates attend
our summit. But it wasn't the scale that mattered.
It was the substance of the conversations. The
keynote conversation to kick off the summit featured...
a number of the most well -known Indigenous leaders
in Canada. Robert Brandt, who's also my co -host
and co -chair of the summit and is partner and
co -head of Indigenous Projects and Transaction
at McCarthy Tetral. Tabitha Bull, President and
CEO of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business.
Harold Calla, Executive Chair of the First Nations
Financial Management Board. And Mark Podlasly.
CEO of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition.
They demonstrated something fundamental. Indigenous
nations aren't just stakeholders in Canada's
economy. They are rights holders. Here is Robert
Brand to introduce the summit. This is not the
Canada of 15 or even 10 years ago in terms of
economic clout and successes of Indigenous people
right across Canada. Now more than ever, Canadian
law, government policy, all support the advancement
of economic reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous
peoples. And the non -Indigenous business sector
is coming to understand that it's not only the
law, but it makes good business sense to work
with Canada's Indigenous people in a meaningful
and respectful way. That's the way you get things
done now in Canada. And of course, it's a very
interesting time in Canadian history, as ever.
whether you're talking about turf wars of 1710
or on again, off again, tariff and energy transition
wars of 2025. And I think we can all relax. Washington
is still sleeping. A couple of hours of sanity
before they wake up. But these are the trials
that make life interesting and rewarding for
those who don't shirk from the challenge. And
Canada's Indigenous people are taking up the
challenges and opportunities like never before.
The days of trying to build projects or businesses
in Indigenous territories without a meaningful
partnership with the local Indigenous nations
are over, and they're not coming back. You know,
we talk a lot right now in Canada about the speed
at which projects have to... take to get over
the line. I think some regulations need to change,
but I also think as Indigenous people, that's
a win for us. Like when people are now saying
we can't move project fast because we have to
work with Indigenous people and we have to get
approvals from environment, First Nation rights,
when that is top of mind for people, I think
as Indigenous leaders, we've won here. For sure
we need to like move through some of the regulatory.
assessment issues and make projects move faster.
But I think it's an initial thought that people
have. And I think that's very positive from a
perspective of just the way that industry and
government is thinking. I think the other thing
that's really changed is it's not just about
law, it's about leadership. Indigenous people
are the fastest growing people in Canada. And
we think about the youth and the opportunities
and all of the leaders in this room and the pride
that we have as Indigenous people. We have businesses
who still actually have two different business
cards, one that says they're an Indigenous business
and one that says they're not. And in certain
parts in the province, they use a different business
card. But in those provinces that have corporations
and government who really recognize and honor
and understand the benefit of working with Indigenous
businesses, that has really been able to move
us forward. And it's allowed us to have delegations
like this, to have all of these Indigenous leaders
here talking with pride about Indigenous business
and economic development. And I think that has
also been incredible progress. I'm an accountant
by training. I worked in international business
and came home to my community in 1987. I come
from a family that has been involved in leadership
of the Squamish nation since amalgamation took
place in 1923. We were a nation before colonization.
We were divided up into 16 different Indian bands,
and over a four -year period, we negotiated with
one another and reconstituted the nation. through
a prayer that was delivered to the government
of Canada. My grandfather was part of that exercise.
When I came home, I was astounded that all of
the things I had heard as a child that I thought
were just bitter old people complaining were
true. And I was astounded at what we couldn't
do. I'd been in international business six months
before, capable of making decisions, doing things
for myself. I came back home and I sat across
the table being looked at as an Indian for the
first time. The fact that I had an accounting
degree, international experience, didn't mean
anything. Couldn't make decisions. I needed the
minister to make decisions. So we've come a long
way. And we've come along this journey in part
because of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which
defined the need. for the colony to engage the
indigenous people. That evolved into eventually
in 1982 a constitution which affirmed the presence
of Aboriginal treaty rights and the right to
self -government. And then we spent 40 years
in the courts arguing about what that might be.
An opportunity passed us by and our communities
continued to suffer. I think that what we created
and there was a number of communities who did
this, was obvious. The needs were obvious. The
pathway to get there was very difficult. And
so we've been successful because we persevered.
And I really appreciate the leadership that's
here today from First Nation communities, because
you have made the Fiscal Management Act, which
created three institutions that you'll see here
today. a success, your engagement, and you've
proven that Indigenous people can do it by themselves.
And here's Mark Podlasny's comment on the matter.
What's happened now is that with what Harold
has pointed out is the rights of Indigenous people
coming through from the Royal Proclamation to
the Constitution of Canada, and now increasingly
to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights
of Indigenous People, these documents require
the free prior informed consent of Indigenous
people in projects that reflect our rights. Now,
you move forward to the world where it is now,
is that Canada is now in a position where we
need to get to new markets to diversify ourselves
in the United States. We need to reach out to
new markets abroad. In order to do that, Indigenous
rights will be affected by any investment, any
decisions making, government permitting. So now
Indigenous people realize we are in a very key
position. Investment risk, de -risking projects,
involvement of Indigenous people from cultural...
perspective, but also now economic certainty.
Speed in order to get to markets is all now falling
to indigenous people. The coalition supports
those nations who want to invest, co -invest
with investors in those projects in our territories,
providing the projects are compatible with the
social, economic, social and environmental and
a kind spiritual values of the host nations.
175 nations in the country is about one third
of all the nations in the country, which should
smash the myth that Indigenous people are against
investment. We are pro -investment provided it's
a smart investment. One thing that we pointed
out at the coalition is if you have an Indigenous
co -investor in your project, you have a co -proponent.
No co -proponent can ever argue that they have
not given consent. So it provides a sense of
certainty that nothing else can. Matt Smith.
At the time, CEO of Saskatchewan's Indigenous
Investment Finance Corporation outlined how small
modular reactors will transform Indigenous territories,
replacing diesel, creating equity ownership and
building energy sovereignty. Chief Tammy Cook
-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band explained
why they moved early. We've always supported
the industry, the uranium industry and small...
Modular reactors were one of them that we wanted
to be part of in the beginning because a lot
of times as First Nations we get left behind
or kind of like an afterthought. So we wanted
to make sure that we were forefront and supporting
that new technology. So we did sign a memorandum
of understanding with other First Nations because
we seen it as like it wasn't taken lightly. And
it was something that we thought about and thought,
like, how will this be embraced? So we wanted
to make sure that we looked at all the different
angles, like we looked at the environment, we
looked at the economic opportunity that was there.
And then so we started exploring the idea of
partnering and making sure that we're... We're
embracing the technology that's coming in. So
we see small modular reactors or SMRs as an extension
of our involvement in the nuclear industry. So
our communities have supported the mining in
northern Saskatchewan, the uranium mining, because
we see the benefit. We see the jobs that come
out of there, the economic benefit, and then
also make the careful consideration of the environment.
the footprint that's left with the industry.
So we wanted to make sure that our Indigenous
voices were heard at the table. And we did look
at one of the models that the Saskatchewan Research
Council has set up in Saskatoon, which is southern
Saskatchewan. So they do have it set up there.
It's an Avinci model, but we took our elders
there. And they were able to ask questions and
look at it and see the model and look at what
the footprint is, how it looks like, how many
houses it can power. Because right now our power
comes from south into our community. Last year,
we were out of power for four days because of
a forest fire in the south, like far from our
community, but yet it impacted us. So we do need
reliable power. And there's more communities
that, you know, that don't have the same access
to power. Like before, we didn't really need
the power because we all had our wood stoves
and our lanterns. But now we rely on the power
for heat and everything. So it is important for
us to have that sustainable power, clean energy.
Cedar LNG, the world's first majority Indigenous
-owned LNG facility, valued over $5 .5 billion
Canadian dollars, proved Indigenous leadership
can set industrial environmental standards globally.
Here's Chief Crystal Smith, at the time Chief
Councillor of the Haisla Nation, and Cedar LNG
board member. Our Haisla members, we're 2 ,000
and continuously growing membership. Majority
reside within the local region. However, we have
Haisla members across Canada and across the world.
We aren't new to industrial development. We had
an aluminum smelter, a pulp and paper mill, and
a methanol plant, all in operations in our territory.
for many years, which we did not have our active
participation in. We sat across the Douglas Channel
and get to see a lot of the community next to
us and the people within it benefit while our
people still lived in poverty. LNG was relatively
new to our territory. Our leadership started
the conversations within the 80s. own reserve
across on the west side of the Douglas Channel
that was proposed for an actual import facility
during the 80s. However, that project obviously
did not come to fruition. So our people weren't
new to the industry, but we saw an opportunity.
Our leadership of the time often quoted saying,
we just want a share and a say. A share in opportunities,
a share in wealth, and a say in how these projects
were being developed. And I think, you know,
as that quote became more solid through LNG Canada's
process of building their facility, our people
find so much pride in saying that we now have
a share and a say. English River First Nation
and Denison Mines. built the Wheeler River Uranium
Project on a co -designed consent model, embedding
Indigenous governance from day one. Sean Willey,
CEO of Desnetti Group, made it plain. Talked
about what's imperative in our First Nations
to create their own source of revenue. One of
the hurdles in Canada is the procurement policy
of the federal government. And it's funny, when
you have a downturn in the uranium market and
we have all this extra capacity within our companies
and our people that we try to bid on infrastructure
within our own community, and the federal government
says, no, we're going to give that to... a southern
company from somewhere away and we'll probably
you'll probably get two labor jobs out of it
and that's what's happened within English River
so our chief and council said oh let's start
using our own source revenue working with our
indigenous financial institutions and we'll start
to build our own infrastructure so here you have
a photo of a the new chief and council is coming
in building new band offices we're going to build
a new commercial center and elders facility so
that we do not have to send our elders out for
their end of life care any longer. And let's
use all of our group of companies as much as
possible to try to amplify and keep Indigenous
money in the Indigenous communities that their
new ownership comes from. At the same time, let's
try to tie in training programs because now that
Denison is about a year away from construction,
we can then use this project to train up Denison's
future workforce. So it's, again, it's another
model of using your own source of revenue to
create those opportunities within the home community.
David Cates, CEO of Denison Mines, commented.
You know, I think there's a perception from mining
and industry that somehow mine development projects
will, of course, generate incredible value and
somehow enrich the lives of those that might
be associated with it. I'm not saying that we
came into negotiations with that textbook sort
of script for Wheeler River. The nation is perfectly
fine if there is no uranium mine. And in fact,
many in the nation would prefer that there be
no additional uranium mine. And so that was the
context there that it was not that the nation
is against development. We had been speaking
to Chief McIntyre and visiting and consulting,
engaging with the nation for some time. And we
were always welcome and appreciated that we would
spend the time to learn about English River.
But the reality was that we assessed, you know,
this is the business inside of this. As we assessed,
what Cheyenne has said is authentic, that this
was not a negotiation maneuver. If the project
and the arrangement we might reach around the
project was not sufficient to make the project
something that the nation wanted to happen, that
we would not achieve support from English River.
And that's why I started with the introduction
around our indigenous people's policy and particularly
my journey on this to understand that. Well,
we certainly have a business that we'd like to
advance that involves developing uranium mining
in northern Saskatchewan. And, you know, understanding
where English River was coming from was a critical
part of us crafting a plan to get there. Critical
minerals is one of the most important subjects
on the table. And in the province of Ontario,
the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Minister
responsible for the Ring of Fire, the Honourable...
Greg Rickford spoke directly to delegates. But
for the country of Canada and for Ontario especially,
who would be most impacted by the constellation
of tariffs that have been removed and applied
and proposed and imposed, we will suffer potentially
the greatest. Here's what I heard today from
our First Nations Indigenous business leaders,
including Sean in his panel earlier. Whether
it was the War of 1812 or a cultural group in
Canada in the highest proportion to stand when
the world called on England, the United States
and Canada to protect its freedom. It was the
First Nations communities in Canada that joined
in the largest numbers. And in the context of
these tariffs, guess who was the first group
to come? to the government of Ontario and the
government of Canada and let us know that they
were here and they were by our side to help,
if not lead. It was Indigenous political and
business leaders. So we are in this moment right
at a critical intersection of opportunity. Because
as we heard earlier today, this can be viewed
two ways. One, we can admit that there's been
some low -hanging fruit in Canada's indulgence
with the United States, some respects quite logical
given our proximity to the United States, the
largest undefended border the world over. But
that comment earlier today on one of the panels
that we are never going back to the place we
were. rings true for us here in Canada more so
than it might for others. So as a province, we
have been blessed with Indigenous business leaders
and political leaders who've said... Let's get
down to business. Let's look at what's happening
in our country. And for the purposes of today,
it wouldn't surprise us that Indigenous business
leaders see this entirely different than provincial
and federal governments. That it's London where
they should be, making new partnerships with
the cradle, not just of the crown, but of some
of the greatest innovations in the financial
markets. that have taken place right here in
London. So I'm just happy to join. I'm happy
to be part of a discussion that charts the future
for governments, for the financial sector, for
the legal sector, and for governments to converge
and coalesce around some of the most exciting
opportunities that have been sitting right there
in front of us. And now, more than ever, should
be double -clicked on. Feedback is always important.
And the post -summit survey results said that
100 % of the delegates would recommend the summit
and 92 % plan to attend the game. That's not
satisfaction. That's market validation. The Canadian
Indigenous Investment Platform's influence extends
far beyond the annual summit. through our weekly
Drumbeats platform, which is now recognized as
one of the most authoritative voices on Canadian
Indigenous investment discussions. I'm very pleased
to announce today the 2026 Summit, which will
also be held again in the Square Mile on April
8th. The Summit theme is Canada, the true North,
strong and free. The 2026 Summit takes place...
at historic inflection point where global shifts,
national policy, and indigenous rights converge
to shape Canada's investment future. True, Canada's
path forward is grounded in truth. The recognition
of indigenous peoples as rights holders whose
governance, stewardship, and vision have shaped
the foundation of the country. Realizing Canada's
full potential means building on that legacy.
through meaningful, equity -based partnerships.
North. As the global order realigns, Canada's
position as the Northern Frontier gains strategic
importance. From Arctic sovereignty to deepwater
access, the North is central to energy security,
mineral supply chains, and economic resilience,
driven by geopolitical change and renewed national
direction. Strong. Canada is building a strong
economy that delivers for all peoples. New policy
instruments such as Bill C -5 are designed to
break down internal barriers, accelerate Indigenous
equity participation, and drive infrastructure
investment that is inclusive, resilient, and
future -oriented. Free. Canada is opening new
trade corridors, reducing dependence on any one
market. The shift from U .S. leadership to global
partnerships is unlocking fresh opportunities
for institutional capital, enabled by Indigenous
-led projects that align with national priorities
and international ESG standards. The summit has
four key pillars. Mining, critical and other
resources. Canada holds the key to the world's
most contested mineral supply chains and Indigenous
nations. Hold the key to Canada. Energy. Clean
and conventional. Indigenous nations are not
just powering Canada's energy transition. They're
reshaping global models of ownership, resilience,
and returns. Defense. Arctic sovereignty. Canada's
Arctic sovereignty will be secured not just by
radar or shipyards, but by partnership with Indigenous
peoples who live there. Infrastructure. corridors,
and nation -building assets. The foundation of
Canada's future will be built by partnerships
with Indigenous nations, corridor by corridor,
project by project. 8th of April, 2026, in the
City of London. Join my co -chair, Rob Brant,
and I as we welcome again the Indigenous people
of Canada, the Indigenous leaders, the Chiefs,
the Indigenous business leaders, the Indigenous
entrepreneurs, as well as provincial, territorial,
and federal government representatives, shaping
the next chapter of Canadian investment, where
capital meets governance, where rights -based
leadership delivers superior market returns.
This is the right time. It's the right opportunity.
The world has changed. Old relationships have
been undermined. But new opportunities present
themselves. Canada is at a historic crossroads,
as economic and social reconciliation is the
law of the land. And with Canada's new focus
on breaking down internal barriers, strengthening
the internal market, and strengthening its country
attractiveness, we'll certainly become the true
north, strong and free. Join us on the 8th of
April. Thank you for viewing and listening. Be
sure to share, subscribe, and leave a review
on your favorite podcast channel. Thanks for
listening to Drum Beats. Until next time.