Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the standing committee for inviting me to make a presentation.
I'm speaking to you today as the president and CEO of Denendeh Investments Incorporated, which is the business arm of the 27 first nations of the NWT, and as the spokesman for the NWT indigenous leaders economic coalition, which represents all the indigenous people in the NWT—Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis—who have come together to improve the economic conditions in our communities, looking at the overall well-being of the NWT.
I've been involved in economic development in the NWT for over 30 years, and I have seen first-hand the barriers to indigenous economic development. I would like to take this opportunity to provide some possible solutions.
Indigenous corporations and businesses in the NWT want to be major players in resource and infrastructure development. Existing funding programs have not been effective in stimulating the economic needs of the north. To make a difference and to be effective, capital for equity to leverage financing must be readily accessible and managed by existing indigenous economic institutions based in the north, thus creating partnerships with governments, indigenous business and private equity.
You need a stable, recurring revenue stream, accessible capital and a cash-flow mechanism for investment in indigenous economic development in the north rather than the existing proposal-based funding models that are not dependable and clearly do not provide for capacity and stability to take advantage of opportunities. Our experience is that opportunities that do come are mostly swept up by southern-based businesses that already have ready capital and take induced benefits and profits out of the territory, thus leaving a recurring vacuum in their wake.
Indigenous people in the NWT receive less funding than our southern counterparts for economic development, because our funding goes through CanNor—that's the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency—and the Government of Northwest Territories. Furthermore, the north is not always eligible for funding that is available through national indigenous organizations.
Most federal and territorial programs will not fund salaries but will provide funding to hire consultants and contractors. This does not contribute to local capacity; it results in community economic leakage.
The federal transfer payments account for about 85% of total Government of Northwest Territories revenues. To access this territorial funding for economic development, indigenous governments, their corporations and businesses must apply to the GNWT. Their projects and initiatives may not be supported if they do not fall under the GNWT mandate, even though they reflect indigenous priorities.
Currently the NWT experiences a critical lack of energy, communications and transportation infrastructure. This contributes to the high cost of living. Without this strategic, wealth-generating infrastructure, valuable northern resources are stranded.
Indigenous roles in the northern economy are critical in terms of benefits to the north, investor confidence, regulatory stability and implementation of the recommendations of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the current economic reconciliation process discussions.
The development of corridors for the national, provincial and territorial economies should be indigenous-driven, -developed and -designed. Routes should be selected, owned, operated and maintained by indigenous people in partnership with governments and industry.
In October 2021, the NWT business and political leaders representing the Dene, Métis and Inuvialuit directed a letter on their behalf be sent to Prime Minister Trudeau requesting $100 million for the coalition. He responded very swiftly, directing his ministers to work with us. Unfortunately, to date, there's been no contact.
In terms of some of the recommendations I'd like to go over, barriers to indigenous economic development—