WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:03.069 Welcome to Drumbeats, the must -listen -to podcast 00:00:03.069 --> 00:00:05.710 which explains why Indigenous partnerships are 00:00:05.710 --> 00:00:08.710 the key to securing successful outcomes in natural 00:00:08.710 --> 00:00:11.070 resource and infrastructure investment in Canada. 00:00:12.390 --> 00:00:14.929 I'm Mark McNack and my co -host Robert Brant 00:00:14.929 --> 00:00:17.789 and I continue the engaging discussion in this 00:00:17.789 --> 00:00:21.129 second podcast with former Chief O 'Rea Crowfoot 00:00:21.129 --> 00:00:25.230 of Siksika Nation in Alberta, Canada. We get 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:27.910 into the specific investment opportunities and 00:00:27.910 --> 00:00:30.370 how international capital can engage with First 00:00:30.370 --> 00:00:34.350 Nations at scale. Today's conversation covers 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:37.369 SIGZIGA's real asset portfolio, infrastructure 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:41.469 assets like bridges, pipelines, and hotels, such 00:00:41.469 --> 00:00:45.549 as a 35 % stake in the Kananaskis launch, where 00:00:45.549 --> 00:00:47.590 the G -Summit was recently held by Prime Minister 00:00:47.590 --> 00:00:49.590 Mark Carney on behalf of the Government of Canada. 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:53.570 You'll discover why Siksika is generating 2 to 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:56.670 300 million in annual excess capital and where 00:00:56.670 --> 00:00:59.689 that money is being deployed. Chief O 'Reilly 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:02.350 Crowfoot also shares his vision for a 100 million 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:05.310 private equity account focused on emerging sectors 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:08.510 like AI, following the model of Colorado's Southern 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:12.849 Utah, who managed a $13 billion trust. For UK 00:01:12.849 --> 00:01:15.730 and continental European investors, this is particularly 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:18.489 insightful. You'll hear Chief Crowfoot's direct 00:01:18.489 --> 00:01:21.180 interest. in the upcoming Canadian Indigenous 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:24.120 Investment Summit, his framework for evaluating 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.480 international partnerships, and critically, how 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:29.680 to actually present opportunities to Siksika 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:33.379 and other capital -rich First Nations. When a 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.739 community is filling opportunities from Australia, 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:38.840 New Zealand, China, and beyond, understand how 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:41.959 to properly engage becomes essential to winning 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:44.959 the business. You'll also hear why Chief Orei 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.480 Crowfoot believes First Nations must be at the 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.560 table, not on the menu. and what that means for 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.920 institutional capital seeking to invest in Canada. 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:57.480 With some of the investments that your nation 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.519 has made, where are you putting some of that 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:04.400 money to get those returns over time? Right now, 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:09.419 the bulk of our money are in our investment managers. 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:16.159 And so we have a wide variety in our portfolio. 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.680 We have some non -liquid assets as well, such 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.900 as hotels, investing in some of these assets, 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:28.719 such as bridges, pipelines, that kind of stuff. 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:33.039 We've had trust accounts for two, three decades 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:36.780 at 69, two decades at least. But this one here 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:41.259 is pretty unique. And so right now, right now, 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:43.840 it's not like winning the lottery, but it kind 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:46.919 of is because up until now, our Treasury Board. 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:49.780 essentially was just rolling budgets you know 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:51.979 like we didn't we weren't making enough money 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:54.580 from our other trusts to really kind of plan 00:02:54.580 --> 00:02:57.900 other than to subsidize our lack of federal funding 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:01.060 and so we didn't have we weren't bringing in 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:05.159 200 300 million dollars of excess dollars annually 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:09.280 as we are now and so now you know we have to 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.360 train up our treasury board we have to train 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:14.439 up our council you know because now you have 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.419 a greater fiduciary You have greater fiduciary 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:20.360 liabilities, more money, more problems kind of 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:26.199 thing. And so initially, my initial goal was 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:27.879 saying, you know what, let's start out with two 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:31.039 investment managers. So we have one RBC Trust 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.419 investment managers and then TD investment managers. 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:38.840 And they had similar portfolios, but a little 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:44.449 bit different. And so our goal, my goal is. As 00:03:44.449 --> 00:03:46.770 we grow our treasure board, as we grow that knowledge 00:03:46.770 --> 00:03:51.250 of investing to become a lot more specialized, 00:03:51.710 --> 00:03:53.409 you know, like, you know, now we're looking at 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:59.030 a small cap manager or but we haven't got there 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:01.370 yet. You know, I didn't want to bring on, you 00:04:01.370 --> 00:04:04.250 know, hey, this is our emerging markets guy. 00:04:04.370 --> 00:04:07.150 This is our growth guy. This is our small caps 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:11.120 guy, you know. Let's have two initial, you know, 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.819 and so everybody on the reserve was comfortable 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:17.720 with the RBCs and the TDs and the BMO, the big 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:20.620 banks, right? And so let's bring those on initially. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:25.779 So we brought those two on initially and said, 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:30.160 okay, now as we train people up, let's bring 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.339 in a growth guy. Let's bring in an emerging markets 00:04:32.339 --> 00:04:36.000 guy. So I think that's the plan in the next few 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.379 years. to start getting more specialized in our 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:43.720 areas of investing. But we haven't gotten there 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:45.540 yet either. And now that I'm not chief, maybe 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:48.319 I'm speaking out of turn, but I would love to 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.120 see Sixie God develop its own private equity 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.959 account on its own, where they said, you know 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.459 what? Yeah, this bigger trust is for all these 00:04:58.459 --> 00:05:01.180 other things, but let's pull $100 million or 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:04.860 whatever out of that and put it in, you know. 00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:10.389 Some more non -liquid type investments, whether 00:05:10.389 --> 00:05:16.069 that be AI, whatever that may be, right? But 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:18.069 we have to have a whole team. We got to have 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:21.629 a team of that strategy as well. And I won't 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:26.170 take, it's not my fully idea. I saw this with 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:29.410 the Southern Utes down in Colorado. They have 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:32.850 a, I don't know, $13, $14 billion trust account, 00:05:33.129 --> 00:05:37.000 USD. And, you know, just for example, in the 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.660 U .S. right now, you know, Trump shut down the 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:43.800 government. He cut off the program called SNAP, 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.000 which, you know, doesn't just affect First Nation. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.560 It was essentially like a foods program for the 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:53.800 less fortunate. And so you never know. You never 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:58.639 know what's going to be shut off. And so in conversations 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.720 with some of these guys from the Southern Utes, 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:02.899 that was their whole plan is like, you know, 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.779 we want to be able to have this. our own private 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:11.600 equity account. So if anything goes awry, we 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.879 can fully rely upon ourselves. And we have that 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:17.240 full reliance upon our own earnings, our own 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.339 equity. Now we're going towards that direction, 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.660 but we've only been in this billionaire's club 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:29.259 for two years. And so I think there's a lot of 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:34.040 opportunities for 60 Guy if guided the right 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:36.920 way. And although I'm not the chief right now 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:39.240 and I've only not been chief less than a week. 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:43.040 And so I haven't even had time to come up with 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.519 a plan of like, OK, what's what's next steps? 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:49.000 But I did tell my cousin and again, it's easier 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:50.959 because he's my cousin, but I don't want to rely 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.759 on it because he's my cousin. But I said, look, 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.920 if you need some financial guidance, you know, 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.860 I can kind of help out for a little while. But 00:06:57.860 --> 00:07:01.000 but we need to develop that outside of the Treasury 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.699 Board, you know, like. Look at examples such 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:07.720 as the Southern Utes and what are we going to 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:11.720 do to build another kind of growth? We do have 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.180 an economic development corporation on the reserve. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:19.019 And they have some investments in hotels like 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:21.420 the Kananaskis Lodge where they had the G7 Summit. 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:26.040 We're 35 % owners of that hotel. We're 95 % owners 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.500 of another hotel. It's called the Westin over 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:33.279 here in Calgary by the airport. at least 50 % 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.240 owners in a few other hotels. So we have a decent 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:40.360 hospitality portfolio, but we also need to diversify 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:42.899 that portfolio out a little bit more. And so 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:45.180 we've already started a little bit. We're not 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:47.160 calling that a growth fund, but it's essentially 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:50.819 our own private equity kind of account. But I 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:52.939 think we need to build that out a little bit 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:56.660 more. Fascinating. So a lot of our audience over 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:58.800 here be thinking, well, how do we go present 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.920 ourselves? How do we get on your roster? Because 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.259 I'm sure you're going to look at global talent, 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.980 right? Not just in the neighborhood. Exactly. 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:13.000 So who do they contact? What's the email? What's 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.560 the package you want to see? Yeah, for sure. 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:19.040 As of right now, you can send that stuff to me 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:21.740 and I can kind of try to forward it. We're hiring 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:24.300 a CEO as we speak for the AgDev Corporation. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:27.980 And so, you know, we're growing. That's good 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:29.759 and bad. We've got some growing pains, you know, 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:31.579 but we're trying to, you know, trying to find 00:08:31.579 --> 00:08:34.740 that right fit with those people that can understand 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:37.320 these different portfolios. Because up until 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:40.659 now, we've primarily focused on the reserve. 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.080 And that's been the primary focus. But now that 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.559 we've, you know, you have a B behind your name 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.820 instead of an M behind your name, you start getting 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:51.059 the phone calls from Australia, from New Zealand, 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.779 from all over the world about, you know, different 00:08:54.779 --> 00:08:58.080 opportunities. And if you're not equipped to 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:00.379 be able to kind of like sort out these opportunities 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:04.419 and even have a strategy to say, OK, these are 00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:06.320 the kind of opportunities we want in our portfolio. 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:11.340 Then you start kind of saying, oh, every shiny 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:14.759 object, you start bouncing between. And so do 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:18.080 we want to go coal over here or do we want to 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.519 go oil? Do we want to go renewable? What do we 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.940 want to do? Guys, guys, we're reacting on whoever's 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:28.000 calling. We got to not be reactive. We got to 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.580 be proactive. And so I think one of the things 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:34.299 that we need to do is build out our team to be 00:09:34.299 --> 00:09:37.850 more proactive. instead of reactive because again 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:40.549 like you said as a when you when you start hearing 00:09:40.549 --> 00:09:42.350 of some of these first nations that have a b 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:44.169 behind their name and there's there's actually 00:09:44.169 --> 00:09:47.549 starting to be a few out of the 660 odd first 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:51.330 nation in canada unfortunately the bulk of them 00:09:51.330 --> 00:09:57.029 are still in the poverty area unfortunately but 00:09:57.029 --> 00:09:59.429 fortunately there are a handful of first nations 00:10:00.190 --> 00:10:04.710 That are leading the area in exporting or ports 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:07.350 or whatever it may be. And so you are starting 00:10:07.350 --> 00:10:11.370 to see First Nations that people are taking more 00:10:11.370 --> 00:10:13.549 serious and people are saying, wow, you know 00:10:13.549 --> 00:10:16.210 what? You know, we have a chief that's I think 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:17.889 I'm the first chief in Canada history at the 00:10:17.889 --> 00:10:20.710 CPA. I haven't I haven't I haven't did the full 00:10:20.710 --> 00:10:22.870 Google search on it. But but, you know, like 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:26.090 and work, I've worked for two of the big four 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:29.009 accounting firms and. And so, you know, that 00:10:29.009 --> 00:10:31.330 kind of knowledge, I don't think you have to 00:10:31.330 --> 00:10:33.549 be a CPA or you have to be an investment banker 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:36.070 or you have to be a lawyer to be a chief, but 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:39.190 it doesn't hurt. I mean, I think that's the direction 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:42.450 that some of these First Nations are moving towards. 00:10:42.529 --> 00:10:45.549 You're seeing more younger, educated chiefs. 00:10:45.850 --> 00:10:47.590 So, you know, some of the older chiefs, they 00:10:47.590 --> 00:10:49.950 bring a lot of that traditional knowledge, which 00:10:49.950 --> 00:10:52.070 is key as well. You know, you need to have that 00:10:52.070 --> 00:10:54.669 traditional blend. And that's what I said before. 00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:56.289 My mom was like, you know, you got to have a 00:10:56.289 --> 00:10:57.909 drum in one hand and the computer in the other 00:10:57.909 --> 00:11:02.250 hand, because if you just have all the modern 00:11:02.250 --> 00:11:05.230 day, you know, KPMG and all that knowledge, but 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:07.649 no traditional knowledge, you're in the same 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:09.769 boat as a non First Nation person. So you need 00:11:09.769 --> 00:11:12.789 to have that balance. And so some of those older 00:11:12.789 --> 00:11:15.750 chiefs, I think they're starting to have more 00:11:15.750 --> 00:11:21.019 liaisons or advisors that are versed up. But 00:11:21.019 --> 00:11:23.100 I think teams are, I think First Nations are 00:11:23.100 --> 00:11:27.559 now starting to build up those. And the direction, 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:29.840 in my opinion, direction that Canada's moving, 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:34.059 I do feel like Canada's going to be, now this 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:38.340 is my personal opinion based on my experience, 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:43.159 but I think Canada's drive is going to be towards 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:46.889 moving away from the Indian Act. And moving away 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:49.309 from funding First Nations, we're going to, quote 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:51.950 unquote, get out of the Indian business. So I 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:54.590 do think that's going to happen or Canada is 00:11:54.590 --> 00:11:57.250 going to try for that to happen in the next 10 00:11:57.250 --> 00:12:03.850 years. And so First Nations, in my opinion, need 00:12:03.850 --> 00:12:07.710 to start saying, OK, you know what? If that happens 00:12:07.710 --> 00:12:12.029 or something towards that direction happens, 00:12:12.269 --> 00:12:15.889 we need to be prepared. We need to have. We need 00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:17.610 to have our own accounts. We need to have our 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:20.309 own funding. And, you know, people say, oh, that'll 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:22.690 never happen. Well, look down in the States. 00:12:22.870 --> 00:12:24.950 I mean, you know, shutting off SNAP and shutting 00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:27.250 off certain programs, although that wasn't First 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:31.090 Nation exactly directed, it has a big impact 00:12:31.090 --> 00:12:33.450 on a lot of First Nations. And if you don't have 00:12:33.450 --> 00:12:36.450 your own resources, if you don't have your own, 00:12:36.470 --> 00:12:40.230 less that reliance upon the government, you're 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:42.830 going to be in a bad spot. And so, you know, 00:12:42.830 --> 00:12:45.409 even though we have the billion now. We need 00:12:45.409 --> 00:12:47.129 to have the $4 billion. You know, we need to 00:12:47.129 --> 00:12:50.350 have those reserves built up and our resources 00:12:50.350 --> 00:12:54.389 built up. Just, you know, if it doesn't happen, 00:12:54.490 --> 00:12:57.490 fine, you know, but you need to be ready for 00:12:57.490 --> 00:12:59.909 that kind of movement. And I think that that's 00:12:59.909 --> 00:13:02.690 where you see some like net resource sharing, 00:13:02.929 --> 00:13:07.330 some equity inclusion. And I think now First 00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:10.490 Nations are getting more savvy when it comes 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:13.549 to the business part. And, you know. being connected 00:13:13.549 --> 00:13:15.889 with some of these corporations. I think 20, 00:13:16.049 --> 00:13:19.570 30, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, I don't think 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:21.389 a lot of First Nations would have said, you know, 00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:23.509 let's go to this economic summit in England. 00:13:24.009 --> 00:13:26.929 Why would we go to an economic summit in England? 00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:30.370 Why would we even leave our local communities, 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:34.889 right? But now, you know, especially with COVID 00:13:34.889 --> 00:13:38.289 and some of these negatives, we can look at these 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:40.980 negatives and go, Well, even right now, you know, 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:43.340 I don't think we would have had this podcast 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:48.100 across the pond if we didn't have COVID. You 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:50.080 know, like, so you take some of these negative 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.259 situations and you say, well, how can we make 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.019 the best out of them? And so, you know, our world 00:13:55.019 --> 00:13:58.440 through AI, through technology, through whatever 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.019 it may be, the world's getting smaller and smaller. 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:04.200 You know, like, you know, again, 20 years ago. 00:14:04.830 --> 00:14:06.970 I don't think we would even consider business 00:14:06.970 --> 00:14:09.470 in Switzerland or business in Japan or business 00:14:09.470 --> 00:14:14.330 in China or anywhere outside of Canada. And now 00:14:14.330 --> 00:14:18.049 you are seeing First Nations. Me and a small 00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:21.730 group of our six guys, we went to China two years 00:14:21.730 --> 00:14:24.950 ago. We looked at a business opportunity in Shanghai. 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:28.110 It ended up not working out, but not because 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:31.250 it was in China, because the economic environment, 00:14:31.389 --> 00:14:33.350 the political environment kind of made it difficult. 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:37.240 those kind of things so there's barriers there 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:39.720 but i think first nations now are starting to 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:42.159 say let's look at let's go to china let's go 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.000 to new zealand let's go to england and um and 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.700 and they're coming here you know like um i know 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.559 that one of these uh coal mines by the eastern 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.659 slopes an australian company owned it at one 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:57.639 point and um i ended up not panning out but you 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.139 know again there's australians that are meeting 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:03.590 with 60 god there's there's um The world is not 00:15:03.590 --> 00:15:06.210 as big as it used to be. Our technology has made 00:15:06.210 --> 00:15:09.309 it a lot smaller. And I think the global economy, 00:15:09.590 --> 00:15:14.210 again, even the Trump stuff, because Canada may 00:15:14.210 --> 00:15:16.490 not want to admit it, but they were pretty reliant 00:15:16.490 --> 00:15:20.210 upon the U .S. for everything. Jokingly, the 00:15:20.210 --> 00:15:24.210 51st state comments, I'm Canadian and I'm American, 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.710 so I can kind of see on both sides. Now, Canada 00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:29.830 takes a lot of pride in being Canada, and they'll 00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:32.710 never be a 51st state. But they did act like 00:15:32.710 --> 00:15:36.850 a 51st state. And so by some of these comments 00:15:36.850 --> 00:15:40.309 that President Trump's made, it's forced Canada 00:15:40.309 --> 00:15:43.429 to say, wow, we are pretty reliant upon the U 00:15:43.429 --> 00:15:46.509 .S. How do we become less reliant on the U .S.? 00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:48.850 How can we, you know, we need to build our own 00:15:48.850 --> 00:15:51.850 because Canada has a lot of natural resources, 00:15:51.970 --> 00:15:55.309 a lot of oil, a lot of gold, a lot of a lot of 00:15:55.309 --> 00:15:57.429 all these a lot of a lot of the fresh water. 00:15:57.730 --> 00:16:00.389 You know, a lot of these natural resources come 00:16:00.389 --> 00:16:03.320 from Canada. And a lot of these natural resources 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.720 are in First Nations communities. And so, you 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:12.340 know, before 30, 40, 50 years ago, these corporations 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:15.240 would come on and honestly take advantage of 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:18.460 First Nations and exploit First Nations. But 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:20.600 now I think a lot of these chiefs and councils 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.200 and executives and advisors on these First Nations 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:29.539 are more business savvy. And so now they're saying, 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:31.879 look, we don't mind being partners. We want to 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.179 be partners with you. But we want to be partners. 00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:36.740 We don't want to be exploited. So, you know, 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.360 if we can come up with some partnerships that 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.700 are equitable, you know, some equitable treatment, 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:44.720 then we're open for business. And that's the 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.960 attitude Siksik has. You know, we're open for 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.580 business. We want to partner up with corporations 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:52.519 and the like, partnerships with, you know, I've 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.259 made a lot of connections through the multiple. 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.419 business CEOs and business leaders in Calgary 00:16:59.419 --> 00:17:02.679 and Canada. And I wanted to know our name. You 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.299 know, I wanted to be, I wore this shirt almost 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:08.140 as a, you know, this is my uniform as chief, 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:11.779 even though it's a polo. But, you know, it was 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:13.859 branded. You know, everywhere I went, they knew 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:16.039 who 60 Guy was. They knew who Chief Crowfoot 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:19.380 was. And I want, you know, the ATCOs, the TC 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:22.940 Energies, all these major corporations. When 00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:24.960 they say, who do we go talk to? I want six. You 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:26.940 got to be at the front of their mind, you know, 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:29.720 and there's a saying either at the table or you're 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:33.259 on the menu. And so we've been on the menu long 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:35.779 enough. We want to be at the table. And so I 00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:37.819 think that's the attitude. I can't speak for 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:39.740 all the First Nations, but I think that's the 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:42.880 attitude that I'm seeing as I go to these major 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.599 projects, these major coalitions and these major 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.579 expansions, not just in Canada, but worldwide 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:52.539 is, you know. We want to be at that conversation. 00:17:53.099 --> 00:17:56.339 So I've never been to the economic summit in 00:17:56.339 --> 00:17:59.319 London. But if I go this year, I'll be really 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.700 looking forward to it because I love to see the 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:05.720 mindset and who's out there and the connectivities. 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.740 And because when it comes to that, especially 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:14.119 native world, it's a small group that that interconnected. 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:17.259 And so, you know, by having that small group 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:20.700 interconnected, you know. A lot of business can 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:25.400 be done, in my opinion. Love it. Love those messages. 00:18:25.940 --> 00:18:28.720 All right. So one other question. With everything 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.440 you're talking about, the excitement, and you 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:32.700 were very fortunate. You have been very fortunate 00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:34.819 in your own career. You've obviously worked hard 00:18:34.819 --> 00:18:37.339 to achieve it. But you recognize what needed 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:39.420 to be done. What about capacity building for 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:43.440 the younger members? We used to hire only people 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:46.980 from Siksika. When I first started, they only 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:50.829 hired people from Siksika. And I'm all for hiring 00:18:50.829 --> 00:18:55.869 our own people. But now we're a billion dollar, 00:18:56.009 --> 00:19:00.210 multi -billion dollar First Nation. So, you know, 00:19:00.210 --> 00:19:02.970 we need to bring on expertise. And so we did 00:19:02.970 --> 00:19:05.049 have to bring on people that weren't from 69, 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:08.349 weren't First Nations. And, you know, in these 00:19:08.349 --> 00:19:13.130 roles as CPA, as CFO and the like, right? Now, 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:16.150 I want to train up our own people. i want to 00:19:16.150 --> 00:19:18.529 train up engineers we need engineers we need 00:19:18.529 --> 00:19:21.970 accountants we need in all these areas of professionalism 00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:24.910 one of the things that we're fortunate as we 00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:29.029 have a college at six ago and we've also made 00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:32.430 a stance um like i said before my mother was 00:19:32.430 --> 00:19:35.809 a big pusher of education and one of the things 00:19:35.809 --> 00:19:38.829 that um in the funding arrangement that canada 00:19:38.829 --> 00:19:43.470 has They had this funding formula, if you will. 00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:45.609 And, you know, here's how we're going to fund 00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:48.329 First Nations going to going to post -secondary 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:50.930 university. And, you know, we're going to we're 00:19:50.930 --> 00:19:53.049 going to prioritize them by, you know, this, 00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:55.569 this, this and this. And, you know, just for 00:19:55.569 --> 00:19:58.789 example, a young lady went three years of university 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:02.450 and then she had a baby or something happened. 00:20:03.710 --> 00:20:06.890 or her mother got sick or, or some kid's father 00:20:06.890 --> 00:20:09.230 got sick or whatever it may be. And they had 00:20:09.230 --> 00:20:12.049 to take a year off. Well, now they're not priority 00:20:12.049 --> 00:20:14.930 one. Now they're priority four or five or whatnot. 00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:17.730 Right. And so maybe they don't get funded anymore 00:20:17.730 --> 00:20:21.170 because you know, you only get X amount of funds. 00:20:21.289 --> 00:20:24.490 Right. And so a lot of people we saw were, you 00:20:24.490 --> 00:20:26.910 know, had two, three years of university under 00:20:26.910 --> 00:20:29.319 their belt, but. They never went back to school 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:31.880 after that. And, you know, I started asking around. 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.259 I was like, well, why didn't you finish? Well, 00:20:34.339 --> 00:20:36.960 we didn't get funded, you know, and I was once 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.539 you're placed in priority five or six, you know, 00:20:40.539 --> 00:20:43.359 chances of going back up to priority one are 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:47.940 slim. And so we made a motion at our council, 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.700 I think maybe five years back, four or five years 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:53.220 back, that we're going to fund every student 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:58.059 at 60 Guy based on old son's criteria. not based 00:20:58.059 --> 00:21:03.660 on Canada's Indian Affairs' criteria. Now, again, 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.960 those dollars came out of our pocket. And every 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.839 First Nation doesn't have that luxury of saying, 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:12.779 we're going to fund our students. We're going 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:16.240 to fund all of our students. But I saw that as 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:19.460 a necessity. I saw that as an investment. If 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.599 we don't invest in our kids and we don't invest 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:25.200 in that education, then how can we be upset when 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.950 we don't have... when we don't have doctors, 00:21:28.029 --> 00:21:29.630 when we don't have lawyers, when we don't have 00:21:29.630 --> 00:21:32.930 all these professional areas that we lacked, 00:21:33.049 --> 00:21:36.710 if we don't provide those opportunities. And 00:21:36.710 --> 00:21:39.450 now, again, you know, another saying that I'm 00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:41.829 kind of known for saying is, you know, I'm a 00:21:41.829 --> 00:21:44.869 big believer in a hand up, not a hand out. There's 00:21:44.869 --> 00:21:47.029 a lot of barriers, not just First Nation people, 00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:49.390 but a lot of barriers our young people have today. 00:21:49.930 --> 00:21:52.910 And so if we can remove some of those barriers. 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:55.880 And one of them being a barrier for education, 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.420 then it just takes less of that stress off of 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:02.980 that person. You know, and so that's one of the 00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:04.920 things we've announced. We've announced that, 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.059 you know, we're funding all of our students right 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:11.500 now at 60 Guy. So a lot of that we won't necessarily 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:14.759 see those dividends till maybe four or five years. 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:16.839 You know, you have to cycle through some university. 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:20.099 But I'm a firm believer that, you know, that's 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:23.019 going to pay off big down the road. You know, 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:25.559 the more the more people we have graduating from 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.839 university, the more people we have. And even 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.500 in high school. So, you know, if if we make that 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.299 announcement at post -secondary and we're going 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:34.220 to fund all of our post -secondary students, 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.119 then somebody that's in high school, they might 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:39.799 have thought, well, our family just don't go 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:42.400 to college. We just don't go to university. And 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.140 that's the that's the thinking on some on some 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:47.980 First Nations is, you know, what what's the use? 00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:51.880 Why do we go to university? If, you know, we're 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.750 not going to. get funded the whole way through 00:22:53.750 --> 00:22:55.990 or something's going to happen. And so, you know, 00:22:55.990 --> 00:22:59.569 we're trying to instill some of those conversations 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:02.910 in grade eight, grade nine, grade 10, and not 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:05.109 wait for post -secondary, not wait for them to 00:23:05.109 --> 00:23:08.910 get into college. So those are some of the proactive 00:23:08.910 --> 00:23:12.309 kind of measures that we're taking now. And then 00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:14.410 the ones that are in, say some of the, we have, 00:23:14.490 --> 00:23:17.390 so even like with engineering, we have our own 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:19.960 engineering department at 60 Guy. And I don't 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:21.799 think many First Nations have their own engineering 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:25.700 department. And again, it takes dollars to do 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.960 these things, you know, like and so a lot of 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:31.339 First Nations and even us, you know, 10 years 00:23:31.339 --> 00:23:34.119 ago, you know, we were fully relying on whatever 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.500 engineer came on to do the work, you know, and 00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:40.380 a lot of times with Indian Affairs or Indigenous 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:43.480 Services Canada, you know, it's, hey, you have 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.579 to take the lowest bid. You have to take the 00:23:45.579 --> 00:23:48.480 cheapest guy. And so we were building, you know. 00:23:48.890 --> 00:23:50.869 Because we had to, because that's all we had 00:23:50.869 --> 00:23:52.970 available was those funds from the federal government. 00:23:53.190 --> 00:23:55.569 And the federal government saying you have to 00:23:55.569 --> 00:23:59.470 get the cheapest person, then you're going to 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:01.430 get the cheapest quality product. And, you know, 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:03.049 you're going to have buildings tearing down, 00:24:03.150 --> 00:24:05.750 houses tearing down, roads not the best quality. 00:24:06.250 --> 00:24:09.430 And so we created our own engineering department, 00:24:09.690 --> 00:24:12.150 our own engineering team. Again, that's funded 00:24:12.150 --> 00:24:17.769 by us. And so we've also now we have a few students. 00:24:18.329 --> 00:24:20.789 that are in university now or have recently graduated 00:24:20.789 --> 00:24:24.230 that can be mentored through our own engineering 00:24:24.230 --> 00:24:27.349 department. And so, you know, we're starting 00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:29.890 to see some of those dividends already pay off. 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:33.509 But I think that's more of a long -term payoff 00:24:33.509 --> 00:24:37.410 than it is a short -term payoff. And so, again, 00:24:37.509 --> 00:24:39.150 when I went back and said, you know what, it's 00:24:39.150 --> 00:24:42.509 not about the $1 .3 billion. It's about the opportunities 00:24:42.509 --> 00:24:46.029 that, you know, because, you know, it's not all 00:24:46.029 --> 00:24:49.079 about the money. But without money, you can't 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:52.160 do these programs. You can't do these initiatives. 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:54.660 You can't do these incentives. And so we want 00:24:54.660 --> 00:24:56.720 to be able to incentivize some of our people, 00:24:56.779 --> 00:25:00.299 and not just the distribution, but rent assistance. 00:25:02.099 --> 00:25:05.119 That's a big issue across the world. It's not 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:09.019 just First Nation people, but everybody is trying 00:25:09.019 --> 00:25:13.140 to find affordable housing and trying to find 00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:15.980 somewhere to rent. And so that's a program that 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:18.589 we're working on. I'm not the chief anymore, 00:25:18.730 --> 00:25:22.269 so I can't commit to that. But we are working 00:25:22.269 --> 00:25:24.509 on, you know, some rent assistance and those 00:25:24.509 --> 00:25:26.890 kind of things. And so I think the more of these 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:29.789 barriers that we kind of either break down or 00:25:29.789 --> 00:25:33.710 remove, the better the payout is going to be 00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:37.829 for our people down the road. Yes. Well, thank 00:25:37.829 --> 00:25:39.930 you for that. And I think you've just reinforced 00:25:39.930 --> 00:25:44.049 some of the most competitive firms and individuals. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.640 that Canada has today are the Indigenous peoples 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:51.980 who are engaged and leading. And Canada needs 00:25:51.980 --> 00:25:54.680 to relearn the ability to compete on the world 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:59.079 stage. So I'm sure you and your colleagues will 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:03.200 be contributing that. But, Ore, it's been a pleasure 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.480 to have you on here. And I think it also demonstrates 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:08.980 the benefit of being in a nice place where you 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:11.279 are to be able to look out at white snow for... 00:26:12.140 --> 00:26:15.180 most of the year to to think of look at what 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:17.579 you've achieved perhaps if you've been down south 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:20.500 still in north carolina you know the environment 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:24.200 would have been as been conducive for that strategic 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:26.680 thinking that you've you've helped your nation 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:31.259 with yeah i definitely wasn't planning on being 00:26:31.259 --> 00:26:34.940 moving back to canada i wasn't planning on being 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:37.220 chief i wasn't planning on my mother getting 00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:40.690 cancer But that's life. You can't count on all 00:26:40.690 --> 00:26:43.390 those things. I do feel like where I'm at now 00:26:43.390 --> 00:26:45.450 was where I was supposed to be. You know, I was 00:26:45.450 --> 00:26:47.609 supposed to be chief. I was supposed to help 00:26:47.609 --> 00:26:49.549 us out with those negotiations and set up that 00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:53.650 trust account. And now now I'm unemployed. Now 00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:57.549 I don't think you will be for long. And you better 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:00.849 get over to the summit April 8th. We would love 00:27:00.849 --> 00:27:05.089 to have you. Some of your colleagues come over 00:27:05.089 --> 00:27:07.349 and join us. We'll send you some further information 00:27:07.349 --> 00:27:14.329 about that. But it has been a real honor to speak 00:27:14.329 --> 00:27:18.289 with you. And we appreciate you joining us on 00:27:18.289 --> 00:27:22.210 our podcast. And likewise, Mark. It's really 00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:26.369 great to meet you and to meet Rob. And again, 00:27:26.509 --> 00:27:29.740 I think that's... As we grow as a nation, as 00:27:29.740 --> 00:27:31.640 we grow as an economy, as we grow as a world, 00:27:31.779 --> 00:27:34.740 it's not about who's First Nation, who's not 00:27:34.740 --> 00:27:37.319 First Nation. We just got to take people that 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:40.740 are like -minded and smart people and say, hey, 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:42.839 you know what, let's push this initiative forward. 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.640 And I think that's the direction we're going. 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:47.920 It may not be as fast as some people want it 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.440 to be, but I think that's the direction that 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:54.160 we're going. And I think that you will see a 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:56.259 stronger Canada. You'll see a stronger First 00:27:56.259 --> 00:28:00.410 Nation. And ultimately, it ends up being a stronger 00:28:00.410 --> 00:28:03.349 world economy. Well, thank you again, Nyawa, 00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:07.450 or a Crowfoot chief. Crowfoot, once a chief, 00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:11.769 always a chief. Appreciate your time and your 00:28:11.769 --> 00:28:15.009 thoughts and your leadership that you've shown. 00:28:15.549 --> 00:28:18.250 And I look forward to the next stage of your 00:28:18.250 --> 00:28:23.490 career. Yes. So thank you very much for that. 00:28:24.069 --> 00:28:28.299 Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Rob. Thank you to 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:30.480 Chief Oray Crowfoot for sharing his insights 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:32.880 with us, and thank you for viewing and listening. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.720 Mark your calendars for the upcoming 2026 Summit, 00:28:36.819 --> 00:28:39.819 taking place on the 8th of April. Be sure to 00:28:39.819 --> 00:28:42.000 share, subscribe, and leave a review on your 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.660 favorite podcast channel. Thanks for listening 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.559 to Drumbeats. Until next time.