Thank you.
I'll start, if that's okay. My name is Dale Swampy. I'm from the Samson Cree Nation. I'd like to thank the government officials for inviting us here, and for the Algonquin territory that we're having this meeting on. I respect their land and their traditional rights to this area. I'd like to welcome the chiefs who are here today, as well as council members and community members from indigenous communities in B.C. and Alberta.
The Aboriginal Equity Partners were formed in 2013 as a group of supportive communities for the northern gateway project. We eventually accumulated 31 of the 52 first nations that were offered equity on the pipeline. The 31 first nations included first nation chiefs and Métis leaders—18 first nation and Métis communities in Alberta and 13 first nation and Métis communities in B.C. As coordinator, I was chosen to lead the group in their meetings, structure, and negotiations about northern gateway. I was also the manager of the terrestrial region for B.C., so the 13 communities that joined us in B.C. were members of my group of responsibility for consultation on the northern gateway project.
Our role is to protect the traditional way of life and environment, both along the pipeline and in marine operations, while ensuring our people in communities benefit from long-term economic benefits and jobs. Collectively, first nations and Métis communities stood to benefit by more than $2 billion directly from the project, including $600 million in revenues as owners of the northern gateway project. A lot of the ownership was an investment that was carried by the funding partners, who were the oil and gas producers in western Canada.
Before the project was cancelled by Prime Minister Trudeau, the equity partners represented by the four stewards—one of whom is here, Elmer Ghostkeeper—were in the process of negotiating for one-third ownership of the pipeline, up from the 10% they originally had with the northern gateway group.
The AEP had a governance structure, basically, with the four stewards being elected from the 31 leaders. An AEP steward sat on northern gateway's management committee, which represents the ownership groups and has members from Enbridge and the project proponents, which were the oil and gas producers.
On May 3, 2016, we had an AEP all-leaders gathering in Vancouver, where the Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde attended and spoke. The AEP had senior-level meetings with the Government of Canada, British Columbia, and Alberta. We were working collaboratively with governments on all critical Canadian infrastructure issues regarding the economy, the oil going to tidewater, and access to new markets overseas.
The AEP stewards met with Hon. Marc Garneau, federal Minister of Transport, in January 2016 and vigorously communicated our position that we expect to be consulted on the proposed B.C. coast crude oil tanker ban under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which ensures the duty to consult and our inescapable economic interests.
In February 2016, we launched our website, www.aepowners.ca, and our Facebook site.
We are here to oppose the tanker ban. We have worked hard and diligently. Our 31 first nation chiefs and Métis leaders invested a lot of time and resources to negotiate with northern gateway with the prospect of being able to benefit from the project, to be able to get our communities out of poverty. There are no current major projects going on in northern B.C. A lot of our mining has now deteriorated and been closed down. We don't see any real prospect in the future, other than what we can do if we re-engage with northern gateway and the pipeline.
Thank you.