Kinew has crucial role to play helping Carney get the ball rolling on resource projects

Manitoba premier Wab Kinew attended the inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto this past week to pitch his government’s plan for a $80-billion expansion of the Port of Churchill to more than 100 of the world’s largest companies and investment firms.

Kinew’s proposal is one of 167 projects highlighted at the summit by Prime Minister Mark Carney, appearing alongside a high-speed rail line connecting Edmonton and Calgary, a floating liquefied natural gas terminal on the B.C. coast and numerous pipeline, mineral, manufacturing and digital technology projects.

The Port of Churchill project got special attention, however. Kinew took centre stage to offer opportunities for investors to support year-round shipping, LNG facilities and a new energy corridor.

The premier also sweetened the pot for investors, announcing a provincial sales tax exemption for capital spending on the project.

It wasn’t the only initiative Kinew and his ministers proposed.

Manitoba representatives also pitched the proposed $125-million Northern Indigenous Integrated Air Logistics Hub at Thompson Airport that would expand northern supply chains, improve food security and support Canada’s northern sovereignty.

Kinew’s government didn’t travel to Toronto alone.

There were representatives from mining companies and leaders from the Business Council of Manitoba, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism and members of various chambers of commerce.

And there was a who’s who of Indigenous leadership in the province: Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson, Anisininew Okimawin Grand Chief Alex McDougall, Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand and representatives from Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.

Note the absence of leadership from MKO, the group that represents northern chiefs. A late August meeting of provincial representatives and MKO over consultation for the Churchill project ended before it started when many of the chiefs walked out, demanding to meet Kinew in person.

Since taking the reins of the federal government, Carney has been vocal about his desire for fast-tracking resource development projects. Less clear, however, is which of them will be getting underway.

Irrespective of his popularity and promises of economic sovereignty in the face of a trade war with the United States, the PM faces the monumental task of getting Indigenous peoples on board.

Carney hasn’t yet figured out how to build resource projects quickly while fulfilling his legal duties to consult Indigenous Peoples and respect their rights.

He has tried offering co-ownership of projects through the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, creating a National Indigenous Advisory Council for his Major Projects Office and holding summits with First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders.

He’s had little success thus far.

There were hundreds of Indigenous activists and leaders protesting outside the summit. In fact, there was so much turmoil in the streets that Toronto police cordoned off meeting sites and closed streets. That gave the event an aura similar to the demonstrations during the 2018 G7 meetings in Charlevoix, Que.

Carney, who is well aware of his lack of support among many Indigenous leaders and communities, has announced a special First Nations Investment Forum for chiefs, Indigenous business leaders and rights stakeholders in Toronto in November.

There’s one leader in Canada who can help Carney achieve his vision.

It’s not Ontario Premier Doug Ford, B.C. Premier David Eby, or Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, all of whom have fractured relationships with First Nations in their respective provinces.

Neither Nunavut Premier John Main nor Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson have the public profile to serve as a model for the others.

That role falls to Kinew, who may well be the provincial leader who can bridge the differences between Ottawa and Indigenous Peoples to help Carney get the first of his major resource initiatives off the ground.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca