Pipelines

[Kirkhill]

Re-Announced in today's Throne Speech - still newsworthy.

FEDS DOUBLE LOAN POOL FOR FIRST NATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE BUY-IN - FNFA

Published in Canada’s National Observer, April 02, 2025, by Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Canada is doubling down on Indigenous-led projects, increasing funding for a federal program that helps finance infrastructure projects like roads, water systems, and stakes in major resource...

www.fnfa.ca

...

First nations invest in pipelines


72 First Nations invest in TC Energy

Indigenous groups buy $1B stake in pipeline

TC Energy says it's selling a $1 billion stake in its Western Canadian natural gas transmission network to Indigenous groups.

www.aptnnews.ca

36 First Nations invest in Enbridge LNG

First Nations group buying minority stake in Enbridge’s Westcoast pipeline network

The $715-million deal set to secure economic benefits from infrastructure that runs through their traditional territories

www.theglobeandmail.com

Federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program Celebrates First Loan Guarantee | CDEV

cdev.gc.ca

23 First Nations in Enbridge Alberta

Partnerships

Indigenous communities and industry both benefit when strong relations are built on mutual trust and respect. Each company in the industry designs its own path toward building relationships and sharing benefits.

www.capp.ca

Athabasca Indigenous Investments

athabascaindigenousinvestments.com

....

Resurrection of Eagle Spirit to Prince Rupert?

35 First Nations backed that

Eagle Spirit Energy Corridor already has the approval of 35 First Nations | BOE Report

Calvin Helin, Chairman and President of Eagle Spirit Energy Holding Ltd. is in Calgary this week, spreading news about an important First Nations energy initiative. Helin believes the Eagle Spirit Energy Corridor is a nation-building project - the first indigenous-led major infrastructure...

boereport.com

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NeeStanan Utility Corridor to Port Nelson with the backing of both the local Cree and the Manitoba Government led by an Anishinaabe premier
and/or
Western Energy Corridor

NeeStaNan (all of us) - Nee Sta Nan (all of us)

neestanan.ca

Western Energy Corridor

Western Energy Corridor is designed for long-distance pipelines and high-voltage DC powerlines, allowing for expansion of Canada’s energy resources in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Moving natural gas and / or oil provides an economic base with large-scale hydro power and other renewables movi

www.westernenergycorridor.ca

...

David Eby has made much of the need for First Nations involvement.

What if?

‘The starting point is First Nations, not the ending point’ - Canadian Energy Centre

Calvin Helin wants to build more than a pipeline; he’s building a new model for Indigenous self-reliance

www.canadianenergycentre.ca

....

Mix in additional National Parks (30% of the land mass is the apparent aspiration, according to the throne speech).

and can you get the indigenous vote to swing behind Danielle Smith's pipelines?

....

Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation - Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation

Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) exists to help Indigenous Nations and groups across our province [...]

theaioc.com

Alberta adds 3 Bn in loan guarantees available to the 10 Bn federally available.

 

[Brad Sallows]

David Eby has made much of the need for First Nations involvement.

Pity other small communities don't seem to have many opportunities to get involved. They too would benefit from employment guarantees and profit-sharing.

 

[Kirkhill]

Pity other small communities don't seem to have many opportunities to get involved. They too would benefit from employment guarantees and profit-sharing.

I think they might.

Equity partnerships represent a turning point for Indigenous communities — Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase

Indigenous entrepreneurs are redefining the possible. Josiah Haynes explores the partnerships defining a new generation of economic reconciliation.

www.indigenoussuccess.ca

Dale Swampy, a member of Samson Cree Nation and founder of the National Coalition of Chiefs (NCC), said: “To say that we are all against development is ludicrous. We’re in favour of prosperity. . . . We know that the majority of chiefs are in favour of participating in major projects.”

Or are you talking about non-indigenous communitiies?

 

[Brad Sallows]

Or are you talking about non-indigenous communitiies?

Yes. All communities should be on the same footing.

 

[Kirkhill]

Can First Nations borrow against their land like the rest of us?

 

[Czech_pivo]

Can First Nations borrow against their land like the rest of us?

That would suggest that if they are unable to repay their loan that the bank has the ability to seize said land and sell it off to attempt to recoup their original loan. I’m not sure that this can occur.

 

[Brad Sallows]

That would suggest that if they are unable to repay their loan that the bank has the ability to seize said land and sell it off to attempt to recoup their original loan. I’m not sure that this can occur.

Thus, the solution which is "loan guarantees", aka "socialization of risk and privatization of profit".

Theoretically something analogous to municipal bonds could be used, but I doubt much capital could be raised - the size of the "municipal" tax base is in most cases too small.

 

[Kirkhill]

Thus, the solution which is "loan guarantees", aka "socialization of risk and privatization of profit".

Theoretically something analogous to municipal bonds could be used, but I doubt much capital could be raised - the size of the "municipal" tax base is in most cases too small.

And that opens another democratic can of worms.

Transferring tax points downwards to municipalities and putting municipalities back in charge of hospitals and schools. Back to the sixties.

Local freedom of action.

 

[Brad Sallows]

And that opens another democratic can of worms.

Transferring tax points downwards to municipalities and putting municipalities back in charge of hospitals and schools. Back to the sixties.

Local freedom of action.

Municipalities already have school boards to run the schools, even if they don't build them.

 

[Kirkhill]

Municipalities already have school boards to run the schools, even if they don't build them.

Fair.

 

[The Bread Guy]

That would suggest that if they are unable to repay their loan that the bank has the ability to seize said land and sell it off to attempt to recoup their original loan. I’m not sure that this can occur.

You are correct when it comes to reserve land. If they own land off reserve, fair game as collateral, but they have to pay all those other taxes that off-res land owners do.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Municipalities already have school boards to run the schools, even if they don't build them.

There are school boards based on the footprint of municipalities, but they are not subordinate to municipal government. In most cases (I'm most familiar with AB) boards are responsible directly to the provincial government and though the usual method of "school tax" is by a complementary mill rate on the property tax bill, the only municipal involvement is the collection and transfer to the province. Municipalities have no say in the distribution/spending of that revenue.

 

[Good2Golf]

Can First Nations borrow against their land like the rest of us?

I don’t think so. The treaties trade *property ownership with support and right to use land transferred by treaty onto Crown owner ship. I think by the (still unrenamed) Indian Act, that treatied First Nations peoples don’t/can’t actually own property in the sense that those without treatied benefits can.

 

[lenaitch]

That would suggest that if they are unable to repay their loan that the bank has the ability to seize said land and sell it off to attempt to recoup their original loan. I’m not sure that this can occur.

It cannot. The Indian Act says (in part):

reserve

• (a) means a tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band, and

I suspect any loan made to a Band under a government program would be guaranteed by the government.

 

[Kirkhill]

It cannot. The Indian Act says (in part):

reserve

• (a) means a tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band, and

I suspect any loan made to a Band under a government program would be guaranteed by the government.

And by vesting the land under the Crown, the supreme authority within Canada's borders, presumably that put the ownership of the land beyond challenge.

The Crown claims the land but promises that land in perpetuity to the locals with prior claim.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The Nisga treaty allowed individuals to sell land. I know there was a lot of opposition to that by the other bands.

 

[Kirkhill]

"The Grand Bargain" has me intrigued.

Mark Carney hedged his pipeline bet by call for decarbonization of the oil - meaning he wanted less carbon emitted from the extraction process.
Danielle Smith allowed as how active carbon capture methods are technically viable but expensive.

She also allowed as how carbon capture was only one decarbonization option. Another is to stop burning carbon to create the energy necessary to power the extraction and start burning uranium instead. Possibly thorium I guess. Maybe use some more of the rivers to generate hydro power before they dry up.

But it is the carbon capture system that has me intrigued.

Pathways Alliance's flagship project looks like a big money loser

According to a global think tank, the business case for the Pathways Alliance's flagship carbon capture project is going up in a cloud of smoke, renewing questions of the wisdom of putting taxpayer dollars on the line for it.

www.nationalobserver.com

This is the case against carbon capture. Setting aside the whole question of global warming and just treating this as a compliance issue it occurs to me that it is a poor argument that the carbon capture process doesn't make money.

Neither do city sewers. Or waste management generally. And, for good or ill, our government has decreed that it wants to treat CO2 as a waste stream.

OK. Stipulated. The cost of doing business. Next question. Who pays?

....

The other side of "The Grand Bargain".

In the First Ministers' Meeting Danielle Smith posited a 1 Million Barrel Per Day bitumen line reaching tide water to achieve a market price of 60 CAD per barrel and suggested that that pipeline would generate about 20 BCAD per year.

Verifying - 1,000,000 x 365 x 60 = 21.9 BCAD per year

TMX has a nominal capacity of 890,000 Barrels Per Day or about 20 BCAD per year.

Alberta produces about 4 Million Barrels Per Day of which 90% or better goes to the US.

A 1 Million BPD pipeline would require a 25% increase in output.

But it would produce about another 20 BCAD per year.

....

Back in 2015 another project was on the books - The Eagle Spirit pipeline to the Dixon Entrance from Bruderheim. It was fronted by the Lax Kw'alaams, offering a port just north of Prince Rupert, and backed by 30 to 35 First Nations and Metis communities along the route. It proposed to run 4 separate pipes, two for bitumen/crude oil and 2 for natural gas. The combined capacity was 4 Million Barrels Per Day of bitumen/crude and 10 Billion Cu Ft of Natural Gas per day.

Eagle Spirit Pipeline - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Based on Danielle Smith's reckoning than that pipeline would generate an additional 88 BCAD per year in revenues from the bitumen fraction alone.

The natural gas, sold in Japan at 12 USD/MMBTU would generate an additional 150,000,000 CAD or so per day, or something like another 60 BCAD.

That Eagle Spirit pipeline would have added close to 150 BCAD in foreign exchange revenues annually to the Canadian economy.

The anticipated build price in the 2015-2018 era was on the order of 16 BCAD.

It would have required doubling the current output of the oil sands.

....

Revenues are not profits.

According to the Pathways Alliance fronting the Carbon Capture project (Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, Conoco, Imperial, MEG, Suncor) the industry contributed 34.1 BCAD in income taxes and royalties in 2023. That was from an output of 3-4 Million Barrels Per Day.

The Eagle Spirit plan, which would require doubling the output, could then be expected to generate on the order of an additional 30-40 BCAD for Federal and Provincial government coffers.

So, 150 BCAD in revenues generating 30-40 BCAD for the Government. The remainder would go into the economy in the form of goods and services purchased and investments returned.

...

Back to the cost of the Carbon Capture system itself.

Varcoe: 'Fish or cut bait' — Critical year ahead for Pathways Alliance's $16.5B carbon capture network

Varcoe: More than three years have passed since the Pathways Alliance oilsands group announced plans for a carbon capture network in Alberta

calgaryherald.com

The project is anticipated to cost 16.5 BCAD.

As proposed, a new 400-kilometre pipeline will be built, connecting more than 20 oilsands facilities in northern Alberta to an underground CO2 storage hub near Cold Lake.

The project’s first phase is expected to capture and sequester approximately 10 to 12 megatonnes of CO2 annually by 2030.

Ottawa created an investment tax credit to cover up to half of the capital costs for CCUS projects.

It’s also promised to offer carbon contracts for difference (CCFDs) through the Canada Growth Fund — the key federal entity to issue them — that could lock in the future carbon price for such initiatives, providing long-term investment certainty.

The province created the Alberta Carbon Capture Incentive Program, providing a 12 per cent grant for all CCUS projects. It’s estimated the entire program will cost the provincial treasury between $3.2 billion and $5.3 billion by 2035, but trigger about $35 billion in investment.

Who we are

Pathways Alliance unites Canada's leading oil sands companies to advance environmental innovation, including carbon capture and storage. Learn more.

pathwaysalliance.ca

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I have seen many waste management projects. I can think of three basic models.

1. Industry is required to control its emissions and required to absorb the cost of capital and operations for equipment like scrubbers and filters.
2. Government supplies the system to manage the emissions (thinking of sewers now) and Industry gets charged for the utility service.
3. Industry engages a third party for a fee to remove the problem (dry waste management).

Or some combination of the above as a public private partnership.

....

I think, if nobody gets too greedy here, and people don't stand on principle, there is a profitable solution available that could benefit a lot of individuals and Canada generally.

....

New Canadian oil and gas pipelines a $38 billion opportunity, says Montreal Economic Institute

Report finds that if operating, Energy East alone could have exported 27 per cent of Canadian oil outside the U.S. last year

www.canadianenergycentre.ca

 

[foresterab]

The Nisga treaty allowed individuals to sell land. I know there was a lot of opposition to that by the other bands.

Nisga is the anomoly as far as I know. But it's much more of a "modern" treaty vs. historic so there are many parts of it different. Will defer to your much greater understanding of that portion of BC as to how it's actually working.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Nisga is the anomoly as far as I know. But it's much more of a "modern" treaty vs. historic so there are many parts of it different. Will defer to your much greater understanding of that portion of BC as to how it's actually working.

One of the big issues for the Nisga is that the original seed money from the Treaty is gone and they need revenue source. To the point they were going to let a pipeline company dig a trench across their "Sacred lava beds".

 

[foresterab]

One of the big issues for the Nisga is that the original seed money from the Treaty is gone and they need revenue source. To the point they were going to let a pipeline company dig a trench across their "Sacred lava beds".

Sounds like a lot of farmers out west. Hate the oil patch putting wells in the prime pasture....but sometimes that's the revenue that allowed them to keep the farm afloat.

Would need a couple of beers to get into responsible development vs. no development vs. full development.