The $5 billion announced for an Indigenous loan guarantee program in last week’s budget is just a start, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
“Nothing would make me happier than to see that $5 billion oversubscribed and the need to deploy even more,” he said, speaking to media at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
The program is designed to help indigenous communities purchase capital in natural resources and energy projects by securing more favorable interest rates.
Freeland said she would like to get the program up and running quickly, and the government has created a special office in the Privy Council to get clean energy projects done more quickly.
But the government also faced criticism at the conference for its slowness in implementing a key framework to help attract energy transition investment.
In a morning session of the conference, former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said the government needs to implement a transitional financial framework that will help specify when investments in gray areas such as critical minerals or natural gas should be counted as part of the plan. climate solution.
“It will make a huge, huge difference in achieving the level of capital needed for the solutions we all need,” said Carney, who also leads transition investing at Brookfield Asset Management and is the UN special envoy for Action and Finance. Climatic.
“Major countries are adopting this framework and incorporating it. That’s the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, the European Union and the United States. And now it is essential that Canada does the same.”
An advisory group submitted a framework proposal to the government about 18 months ago, and frustration is growing at the slow pace of its implementation.
@cafreeland says $5 billion is just a start for the Indigenous loan guarantee program. #CDNPoli #Indigenous #IndigenousLoanGuaranteeProgram
“It’s been on the table,” Carney said. “It is essential that the federal government and our regulators implement that work.”
Freeland said the government and many partners have been working on the framework, also called green taxonomy.
“All the building blocks are there and we are working hard to complete the process as quickly as possible.”
While the taxonomy could help attract investment for transition projects that Indigenous communities would also like to launch, the loan guarantee program does not limit what type of resource or energy projects are supported.
There is expected to be high demand for the program, with Indigenous investment already expected in major projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, while several First Nations have already signed option agreements to purchase interests in the natural gas pipeline. Coastal GasLink.
The First Nations Major Projects Coalition estimates there will be $525 billion in capital investment opportunities for Indigenous capital participation over the next 10 years.
Mark Podlasly, the coalition’s sustainability director, said in a conversation with Freeland that the program should help initiate a historic transfer of wealth to First Nations.
“I would like to congratulate you and your government again for taking the biggest step towards economic reconciliation that we have ever seen as a country.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.