Thank you, Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Stephen Buffalo and I'm the president and CEO of the Indian Resource Council of Canada.
Our organization represents over 130 first nations that have direct interest in the oil and gas industry. Our mandate is to advocate for federal policies that will improve and increase economic development opportunities for the nations and their members. It is with some concern that I speak with you today.
Our organization and our members care deeply about Mother Earth. Many of the things that have been described as fossil fuel subsidies are actual programs and funds that directly support our first nations communities and our involvement in the sector. These go to rectifying some of the economic wrongs that have been done to first nations in the past.
Many of them are programs that are good for the environment and are helping us to reclaim our reserve lands, where we hunt, pick berries and pick medicines so future generations can enjoy them. Still other initiatives are designed to provide relief from the high cost of living for our people, especially those living in rural and remote communities, so that they can have the basic things like heat, electricity, affordable food and access to medical assistance, but because they're involved in oil and gas, they're considered bad.
I understand that some members of the committee want to get rid of these programs. I can't understand that logic. I can't see how that's consistent with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or the honour of the Crown.
When I first looked at what is considered a fossil fuel subsidy and what the committee is trying to eliminate, I couldn't find any official government sources. I found some reports from NGOs that itemize them, and I'm honestly shocked. One of them is on funding for a diesel generation station in Nibinamik First Nation. The other was on Indigenous Services Canada investment in natural gas and diesel projects, or on electricity price support for the indigenous community.
Honestly, there are no options other than diesel for a lot places. If you do not think our people deserve heat or electricity because it comes from oil, then that tells a really bad story about what you think about indigenous people.
I also saw that Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines were on the list because they got loans, not subsidies. You're probably aware that with Trans Mountain, there are many indigenous groups that are trying to buy that pipeline from the federal government. The business case is strong. However it gets divided up, it's going to provide long-term, stable and predictable revenues for our communities. It's going to help us to be more financially independent and to have money we can spend, which we think is important, rather than what the government decides for us, such as under the Indian Act and that regime.
It's the same with Coastal GasLink. Just this month it was announced that 16 of the first nations along the route have entered into an equity deal to buy up to 10% of the pipeline. They asked the federal government to help out and provide them loans to get them up to 30% ownership, and our government said no because it's a natural gas pipeline. I don't think I need to remind everyone that the world needs cleaner energy.
The thing that bothers me the most is the funding of the orphan and inactive well reclamation program. It's on the list too. As part of the COVID recovery, the federal government committed $1.7 billion to clean up orphan wells and pipeline facilities.