Natural Resources Committee on Oct. 9th, 2025

[Jonathan Rowe, Conservative, Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, NL]

I would agree. I would even say you guys have a right to develop your resources if you want to.

We have this issue in offshore Newfoundland where companies will not invest in exploration because, at any point, the federal government could deem that area a marine protected area. If you have billions of dollars invested in exploration, you still may have to bugger off regardless of how much you invested because that's a marine protected area.

Do you think these extremes are really needed? Would you agree that our current environmental standards already protect our waters and environment at a reasonable level?

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

In my experience, I don't think they do. I think much more needs to be done. I'll come back to my earlier point again. It's relative to the capacity, understanding and conveyance of each of the respective nations as to what they see as impacts to their waters, their lands and their territories.

I'm from the Prairies here in Treaty 6, so it's difficult to speak on behalf of those on the eastern seaboard. From our perspective here on the Prairies, our cultural way of life is paramount to our future, and it's difficult to trade that for development as you move forward. There are a lot of conversations that definitely need to occur to ensure that our people can continue on with a strong identity into the future.

[Jonathan Rowe, Conservative, Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, NL]

As Newfoundlanders, we understand the frustration of having our fisheries oftentimes controlled by federal governments, and we want to have more control at the local level. I completely understand where you're coming from.

What I find interesting is that the feds just brought in C‑5, which basically controls where they can have a project at any time and kind of streamline through regardless of other inputs. They have the right to do that now. At the same time, they're bringing in this 50 by 50 mandate, which determines areas where they don't want development, pretty much without a lot of discussion.

Do you think, with the combination of C‑5 dictating where things should happen and can't happen and the 50 by 50 mandate of where things can't happen, that gives too much control to the federal government and goes against all the work that indigenous communities did to finally get a seat at the table?

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

At the outset, there are definitely a lot of concerns in our conversations around our table. Further to my written submission, I state in there that, when it comes to the implementation of an act like that, it could be received as less consultation, less accommodation and a potential erosion of the opportunities to practise our inherent and treaty rights. That comes with a lot of trauma from the past.

We understand that the Major Projects Office has been implemented, but when you look from a Saskatchewan perspective, we have the centre of excellence, which is essentially our major projects office for first nations. That's what we're built for, and we need to play a lead role in that light.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you to you both.

Wrapping up this round, we have MP Hogan for five minutes.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Wuttunee, thank you for being here.

You said something that really caught my attention, and I thought that it brilliantly summarized the essential question in front of us. In your opening statement, you said that the question was this: How do first nations meaningfully participate as first nations in critical minerals and the energy sector?

To that point, what supports—capacity building, legal, negotiation, funding—do first nations need from the federal government to participate more fully as partners rather than as passive stakeholders?

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

Thank you very much for that question. I couldn't have asked for a better question.

When we look across the board, we look at potential impacts to rights, accommodation and offsets. We look at opportunities for equity. From our perspective here at the centre, we need to ensure that first nations respectively as autonomous nations have capacity in their band offices, in-house, on reserve. We also need that support for regional [Technical difficulty—Editor] organizations like the centre of excellence that works on behalf of first nations and is there to assist and support nations as well.

Ongoing sustainable core funding for organizations like ours will definitely assist in the facilitation, the knowledge sharing, the education and the capacity building of our first nations. We work on behalf of them. We play that role as an interface between government, industry and first nations. It's a very important component of the work that we do.

We're building out a major projects tracker that relates to impact assessments, consultation, project tracking and all those types of things. We're also building out and have built out, for that matter, a recruitment portal and framework for indigenous people and indigenous businesses in Saskatchewan so that, once projects are moving forward, we're helping with the recruitment of our people and bringing forward our businesses as vendors on our own two feet as first nations in Saskatchewan.

I think that's very important from a local perspective.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Thank you.

I would really encourage you to provide additional written comments on the equity components. As Monsieur Simard was mentioning, it's a really interesting topic.

Knowing that we are very short on time, I just want to ask if there's anything else you want to add that you didn't have the opportunity to say in your responses so far.

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

Do you know what? I appreciate all the questions we've gone through this morning. I feel strongly that in relation to the future, respective governments have a really important role to play in advancing economic reconciliation with us as first nations. We've been through TRC. We're moving through [Technical difficulty—Editor]. I can't stress enough that we as first nations need capacity support on the ground to better understand these projects. Will the Major Projects Office do that? I'm not fully confident in that.

We've been built here in Saskatchewan to work on behalf of and serve our first nations, and we do that well, but the increased capacity from our perspective is also important because of the enormous momentum, right across the globe, with respect to critical minerals and energy. Working for 74 first nations, the work can be extremely daunting.

The final point I'll leave is that the centre of excellence we built here is the only one of its kind in Canada where all of us as first nations are working collectively and have an organization that fully serves our first nations across Saskatchewan. As we move forward, when we look at the historical relationship and we look forward to the responsibility to one another, we are here to work in partnership and collaboration. We just need to ensure that we're able to make well-informed decisions to do that effectively and increase the benefit for our first nations on and off reserve.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

That's a good place to end. Thank you, Mr. Hogan.

Mr. Wuttunee, a big thank you to you. As our only witness today, you got the full treatment.

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you for the really rich discussion with our members and for your presentation to us today. As Mr. Hogan suggested, anything you want to supply in written form would be welcomed by the committee and looked at by our analysts and by us. I'll just let my colleagues know that you'd like to stay on the screen for the next hour to hear the next witnesses, and that I have granted that wish.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, we'll now take a break to change panels.

[Sheldon Wuttunee]

Thank you. Have a great day.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Colleagues, please take your seats again.

Welcome back.

I'm sorry I have to repeat myself. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation—floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

We would now like to welcome our witnesses for the second panel.

Colleagues, as discussed at the break, Mr. Wuttunee has remained online for us and is open to questions. Our other witnesses today are Sharleen Gale, chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, and Shaun Fantauzzo, vice-president of policy for the First Nations Major Projects Coalition.

Ms. Gale, you will have five minutes or less for your opening remarks. I know members around the table are very anxious to ask questions and engage in dialogue with you.

Please proceed.

[Sharleen Gale, Executive Chair of the Board of Directors, First Nations Major Projects Coalition]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Sharleen Gale. I am a member of the Fort Nelson First Nation, which is on the northeast corner of British Columbia, and I have the privilege of serving as the executive chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. I am appearing today with FNMPC’s vice-president of policy, Shaun Fantauzzo.

FNMPC is a non-profit organization representing more than 180 first nation members across 10 provinces and two territories. Its mandate is to advance the economic and environmental interests of its members.

The energy transition is reshaping the global economy. Electric vehicles, batteries and renewable power all depend on reliable supplies of critical minerals. The International Energy Agency projects that global demand for nickel, cobalt and lithium will quintuple by 2040. Canada has what the world needs. Our resources are valued at more than $350 billion, and most are within indigenous territories. Developing them responsibly is a matter of jurisdiction, partnership and shared prosperity.

If we get this right, critical minerals can be a part of a new era of economic reconciliation in which first nations are owners, project proponents, business leaders and decision-makers in how minerals are developed and recycled.

In 2022 and 2023, FNMPC convened its members, government officials and industry representatives in a series of round tables focused on critical minerals. Three themes emerged from those discussions.

First of all, free, prior and informed consent must guide every decision. Consent is not a check-box exercise. It requires trust and accountability, and it must be nurtured. Projects built with consent are more likely to succeed and endure.

Second, without capacity, there can be no consent. Many first nations are being approached by mining companies from around the world, often without much notice and with limited information. Access to relevant legal, financial, technical and environmental expertise is imperative; so, too, is having the resources to engage members and ensure that decisions reflect community preferences, not just the advice of outside consultants.

Third, the opportunity for participating economically in the entire critical minerals value chain must be explored. Economic participation in the mining sector remains concentrated in exploration, contracting and construction services, with very limited involvement in the downstream value chain. Far beyond exploration and extraction, there are opportunities in refining, processing, manufacturing, recycling and supporting infrastructure such as transmission lines, roads and ports. First nations participation will help strengthen domestic supply chains and keep more value here in Canada.

In partnership with The Transition Accelerator, FNMPC is studying the full value chain of Canada’s critical minerals sector. We’re planning to release our findings in early 2026, in advance of our ninth annual conference in Toronto.

We're already seeing first nations leading in the critical minerals sector, from Norway House Cree Nation purchasing the Minago nickel project in Manitoba to Nisga’a Nation and Tahltan Nation announcing a joint venture at the port of Stewart to export critical minerals from British Columbia's coast, and Selkirk First Nation acquiring the rights to the Minto copper and gold mine in the Yukon with plans to redevelop the site according to its traditional laws.

Long before European contact, first nations harvested and traded minerals as part of their sophisticated traditional economies. The Tlingit, for instance, have long created shield-shaped coppers, a symbol of wealth and identity that speaks to an enduring relationship with the land. However, in the modern era, the benefits of mining have too often bypassed our communities.

Many first nations have negotiated meaningful partnerships in the last 25 years, and more than 500 impact and benefit agreements have been signed between first nations and mining companies. However, many more have also endured environmental damage, social disruption and little to no lasting benefits. That imbalance must not be repeated in the critical minerals sector.

Canada’s critical minerals opportunity is nation-building in scale, for the country and for first nations, and it must be rooted in economic partnership. Since most deposits are in indigenous territories, development must proceed with free, prior and informed consent every step of the way.

Persistent barriers include capacity gaps, outdated free-entry systems that violate the Crown’s duty to consult and limited access to capital tailored to the risk profile of the critical minerals sector. We also need to do a better job of prioritizing early engagement as an investment in the trust required to deliver durable and defensible project outcomes.

I want to reiterate the importance of the recommendations from the committee's 2021 report on critical minerals, which called for meaningful consultations and partnerships with indigenous communities, investment in training and capacity development and support for value-added processing within Canada. The report recognized that our country's advantage in critical minerals depends upon more than its natural resource endowment. It requires extensive inclusive government, reliable infrastructure and meaningful indigenous participation across the entire value chain.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, FNMPC stands ready to support you and Canada to help ensure that the development of critical minerals is about more than extraction. It can be about building a future where indigenous and non-indigenous communities prosper together, where indigenous rights are respected and where Canada out-competes on a global scale in a manner that protects our national security.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you, Ms. Gale.

For our first round of questioning, we have MP Tochor, MP Guay and MP Simard, with six minutes each.

Mr. Tochor.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

More importantly, thank you for what the First Nations Major Projects Coalition could potentially do for our country. It's what's been missing. I'm very grateful for some of the lessons and points you made doing your presentation.

If we're going to succeed, we need to learn from other successful past projects that you guys have been associated with. I understand that one of your past projects was a 10% equity option in Coastal GasLink in 2019. That was a successful project, but what did you learn from that project that we can use in critical minerals expansion in Canada?

[Sharleen Gale]

We learned how powerful it is when first nations come to work together in defining their own destiny.

The coalition was formed by hereditary and elected leaders. They had an opportunity to have ownership in the Pacific trails pipeline, but when they went for financing, it was at credit card rates. The elected leadership and hereditary chiefs knew they needed to do something, so they really pushed for the indigenous loan guarantee program. The program is great, but there is more need for more money, based on the scale of the projects that need to be built. There were a lot of round tables.

Some of the other things that were really helpful in the project, which came from those round tables, are the need for capacity and the need to have funds to develop our education system so that we have the workforce. First nations are the biggest growing population in Canada. With these kinds of projects, though, there's a lot of risk. Having the financing come after the project is turnkey and ready—after the fact—would have been one of the biggest and the most important things for the first nations to be successful, because we cannot use our own-source revenue to be part of a project that might not be successful or where there are cost overruns.

With that, I'd like to pass it over to Shaun to see if he'd like to add anything.

[Shaun Fantauzzo, Vice-President of Policy, First Nations Major Projects Coalition]

Thank you, Sharleen.

The only thing I would add is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Hang on. I think Mr. Tochor had an intervention before that.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I'm looking at just the Coastal GasLink project because that specifically was, in your words, a catalyst for change around some of the financing models, and that is so important. It is such an important asset for our planet. We know natural gas is better for the environment and there are good jobs that flow from it.

Is there anything you can add specifically about what we've learned on the Coastal GasLink project, which you guys were associated with, that we can take into other projects? That's what I'm looking to get an answer to.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

It's open to either of you to answer.

[Sharleen Gale]

Shaun, I'll give you an opportunity.

[Shaun Fantauzzo]

Thanks, Sharleen.

Thank you for the question.

In addition to what Sharleen mentioned, there are a few specific lessons we could learn from the CGL project and, now, many of the other projects that have come following the Coastal GasLink.

The first thing is that capacity building is essential. It's quite a bit different now because of the efforts of FNMPC and organizations like the one Sheldon is running. Many indigenous partners may lack the experience in large equity project finance deals that, in the case of CGL, may go to capital markets for financing. Without that deep support, terms typically heavily favour the corporate side or the proponent side.

One of the lessons from Coastal GasLink was really those first nations working together and coming together to negotiate those terms. There was the legal and financial advisory support that was assembled around that project with the phased involvement and shared expertise. One of the things that FNMPC did at that time was a capital markets 101 to 401 series. It was not only for those members who were involved in CGL; those resources are available online for all first nations.

Another part was structuring that deal to reflect the real risks. Historically, many of these projects have had passive investments set aside to invest equity in the project. CGL was really a novel, true option that was negotiated with downside protection for those first nations. There was strong governance alignment among the 11 first nations that were involved that we were representing, and there were mechanisms to reduce the regulatory risk.

Those are all lessons we can take away from that deal. I also want to reiterate that there have been several deals that have occurred since then with new novel models that are emerging.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

You have time for a short one.