Liberal Minority Government 2025 - ???

[daftandbarmy]

Meanwhile, every business scrambling to show some degree of first nations ownership...

Oilpatch companies spent billions on Indigenous-affiliated businesses: survey​

Most spending on construction vendors, environmental and industrial waste services​

Oilpatch companies are big spenders on Indigenous-affiliated businesses, according to a survey commissioned by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers released Thursday.

Data science firm iTotem Analytics collected figures from 12 members of the industry advocacy group that together represent half of Alberta's oil and natural gas production.

They collectively spent $14.4 billion between 2021 and 2023 on goods and services from Indigenous-affiliated businesses, which iTotem defines as an enterprise with some degree of First Nations, Métis or Inuit ownership.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/oilpatch-companies-spent-billions-on-indigenous-affiliated-businesses-survey-1.7565900

 

[MilEME09]

Churchill won't be very happy but it isn't the first time that they have proposed development for Port Nelson.

My understanding is there is a lot of local politics that has prevented development further in Churchill. Port Nelson however we are starting from scratch, the place is more a historical site then anything, a lot of abandoned, decaying buildings, a bridge thats fallen apart peading to what used to be a port island thats now just junk. No roads, rail etc

 

[brihard]

All true until the Federal Government interacts directly with the municipal governments in contravention of the Constitution Act 1867, Section 82(8).





Item 13 is interesting as well.

....

Subsidiarity can be exploited to sideline the middle. The Canadian Constitution would seem to be designed to ensure the maintenance of the power of the Provinces. The Feds should not be offering money directly to municipalities. To individuals perhaps, but not to municipal corporations.

Note that that divides the powers to legislate. The federal government has room to legally deal with municipalities directly. The federal government cannot legislate the existence or operation of a municipality.

 

[GK .Dundas]

My understanding is there is a lot of local politics that has prevented development further in Churchill. Port Nelson however we are starting from scratch, the place is more a historical site then anything, a lot of abandoned, decaying buildings, a bridge thats fallen apart peading to what used to be a port island thats now just junk. No roads, rail etc

Strangely enough one of the people who was running for Manitoba PC leadership is a former Mayor of Churchill. And He's stated a couple of times that he favoured Port Nelson for several reasons.

 

[Kirkhill]

Note that that divides the powers to legislate. The federal government has room to legally deal with municipalities directly. The federal government cannot legislate the existence or operation of a municipality.

Personally I don't consider it good practice to undermine any chain of command.

 

[brihard]

Personally I don't consider is good practice to undermine any chain of command.

Viewing relations between different levels of government as a ‘chain of command’, or in any way akin to one, is horribly flawed and will lead you astray from useful insights.

 

[Kirkhill]

Viewing relations between different levels of government as a ‘chain of command’, or in any way akin to one, is horribly flawed and will lead you astray from useful insights.

Whatever verbiage we choose, while important, I am careful of the concept of subsidiarity. While on its face it permits the democratic principle of making decisions at the local level, a practice I am in favour of, it also has been used by supra-national organizations to undermine national organizations by supporting the locals against the recognized regional/national government. In that, any organization that appeals to subsidiarity gains my attention.

 

[Kirkhill]

Churchill won't be very happy but it isn't the first time that they have proposed development for Port Nelson.

The NeeStanan literature, which seems to be led by the Fox first nation out of Gillam, is careful to make sure that Churchill is not affronted. They wish to grow Churchill, with its Port, Rail and Airport connections while also creating a new port at Port Nelson based on an existing 1920s right of way that terminates/terminated in a long pier. Port Nelson is on the Nelson river. The south bank is on a peninsula between the Nelson and the Hayes. The HBC capital of York, York Factory, is on the Hayes river side of the peninsula.

Gillam is on the railway line to Churchill and would form the junction between the two lines.

My sense is that the vision is kind of like that of Vancouver which also serves two groups of ports, those on the Fraser and those on Burrard Inlet.

NeeStaNan is all about vision! -

By Marshall Murdock History has taught us that all nations need a vision, otherwise “people will perish”. Without a long-term plan, without a vision, people are doomed to …

lifestyles55.net

What is the NeeStaNan Corridor Project all about?

It’s all about the economics of world markets as it relates to the significant importance of getting the products to end users such as Brazil, Germany, and other European countries. But we have a problem/challenge. And the challenge relates to transportation. Agricultural products such as grain and other important commodities such as LNG and potash, are needed desperately in the European economy today. But the existing railway system in northern Manitoba, as it stands today, does not have the full capacity to meet the demand and supply of getting these products into the international markets.

How do we fix this situation?

First of all, we must clearly communicate the NeeStaNan vision and message to those communities that will be impacted by the building of this railway corridor This includes communities such as the First Nations and Métis in Alberta, Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba and a small number of Inuit settlements. NeeStaNan recognizes the importance of providing clear communication and vision to these communities because they have a full right to know and that right needs to be fully respected. Indigenous Canada has seen too many “let’s make a deal” only to later discover there was no real deal in the making.

Where do we start?

We have begun right here in our own backyard of Manitoba. We also particularly want to talk with the town of Churchill. Why the town of Churchill? Because there seems to be a misunderstanding of how NeeStaNan fits into the existing railway system.

NeeStaNan is totally on side with the current railway that provides goods and services to the community of Churchill and to local Indigenous communities. NeeStaNan wants to be a genuine compliment to the transportation railway system that has been there since time immemorial. We believe we must begin with a “meeting of the minds”. NeeStaNan also believes in the importance of the “duty to consult”. We are on that road today.

NeeStaNan’s Board of Directors are majority First Nations and Métis, including the CEO. The founding Proponent is non-Indigenous who began the journey 6.5 years ago along with other Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders and business minded people. Included in that complement are engineers, architects, environmental staff, and experienced professionals that understand and support the vision of NeeStaNan. The NeeStaNan corporation is presently located in Calgary, but in the very near future the NeeStaNan head office will be located in Winnipeg. In the Treaty Five territory in northern Manitoba the two key host communities of the NeeStaNan Project are the Fox Lake Cree Nation and the York Factory Cree Nation. Without these two communities NeeStaNan would not proceed forward.

 

[lenaitch]

My understanding is there is a lot of local politics that has prevented development further in Churchill. Port Nelson however we are starting from scratch, the place is more a historical site then anything, a lot of abandoned, decaying buildings, a bridge thats fallen apart peading to what used to be a port island thats now just junk. No roads, rail etc

I find it strange that we would put public money into a 'greenfield' port when there is one already in existence up the coast. Of course it would need upgrading but that's a far cry from a shallow, silting site with no infrastructure other than a rusting bridge.

The primary motivation behind the FN-backed proposals seem to be that they would be 'theirs'.

Subsidiarity can be exploited to sideline the middle. The Canadian Constitution would seem to be designed to ensure the maintenance of the power of the Provinces. The Feds should not be offering money directly to municipalities. To individuals perhaps, but not to municipal corporations.

I don't see how the provinces having exclusive jurisdiction over municipalities prevents the federal government from providing them funding. It is not encroaching on "municipal institutions".

I would argue that the Constitution has the exact opposite effect on the power of the provinces. The 'peace, order and good government' clause of Section 91 gives residual power to the federal government on any matter not specifically identified as the jurisdiction of a province under Section 92 (i.e. housing). There is even argument and some case law that suggests that it can encroach on provincial jurisdiction if there is a compelling national or emergent interest.

This is the opposite of the US Constitution which basically says that anything not specifically assigned to the federal government defaults to the states.

 

[GK .Dundas]

I seem to recall someone with an engineering background checked out the bridge at Port Nelson and seemed to think that it was surprisingly good condition.
Mind you that was roughly a decade ago.

 

[MilEME09]

I seem to recall someone with an engineering background checked out the bridge at Port Nelson and seemed to think that it was surprisingly good condition.
Mind you that was roughly a decade ago.

Im no expert but it seems much worse today

 

[RangerRay]

Im no expert but it seems much worse today

View attachment 94166

That’ll buff out!