Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For sure, I agree 100% that the municipalities, the provinces...no one is on the same page. Again, we lack the resources to get things together, and we're always waiting for someone to step forward. There's a lot of corporate value to lands that we obtain, but to have them acce

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First, Indian Oil and Gas Canada is our regulatory body. It's different from the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Canada Energy Regulator. They were supposed to be our fiduciary trustee, as well. Some of the problems that stem from their lack of enforcement have turned into litig

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are bureaucrats under the land management act who hold back the process. Of course, the only ones who are really benefiting are somewhat.... That's just to say the lawyers see a lot of benefit from this, and it is painfully long. Some communities have invested in land throu

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Of course, as we look at the land bases that are now set through the Indian Act, there are opportunities and business development and...primarily resource extraction that is happening just off our communities. As long as we're a part of it, I think there's an opportunity to reall

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The AIOC's primary mandate was to backstop the provincial government guarantee on first nations' investing in some of these projects that are in their territory. Again, it's not cash; it's a backstop, so there's still some lending and liability there, but now you're part of the e

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. [Witness speaks in Cree] [English] Thank you, Chair. I want to first acknowledge that I'm in Treaty 7 territory here in Calgary. I want to thank the chair and committee members for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Stephen Buffalo. I'm the president an

Natural Resources committee  It's the same as in the oil and gas sector. We're told it will be nice and everything at the end, but it's really hard to trust—the industry proved itself.

Natural Resources committee  You're absolutely right. Even to get to that point, the timing is huge. My colleague Mr. Friesen talked about how long these projects will take to get off the ground. The investment looks good, and of course we see some of the returns that might be identified, but at the end of t

Natural Resources committee  In the short term, I think we've seen some positive strides with the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, of which I'm the chair. It brings revenues to the nations. For the four projects we've funded, the nations will see a total of $31 million collectively, and that's m

Natural Resources committee  I wouldn't have those numbers, but obviously in oil and gas we're seeing that transition to get to renewables and alternatives. I guess that's why I'm here. There's a lot of interest in SMRs, but a lot of it takes working with governments. The problem right now is that we're see

Natural Resources committee  No. That was because we were doing training. We went through a transition there. Our funding has been cut, so we obviously have to find alternatives. One objective of one of our divisions is to help train and build capacity in communities. We did site reclamation training with

Natural Resources committee  That was a one-off project. If we get to do more site reclamation work, they'll definitely put the rigging back on, and they'll pay for all the training we can do.

Natural Resources committee  I think most of the tribes I've come across and worked with feel that they have a little more autonomy in deciding what's being done for them. Here in Canada, especially with first nations, Indigenous Services Canada.... In the oil and gas space, it's the Indian Oil and Gas Cana

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Chair and committee, for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Stephen Buffalo. I'm the president and CEO of the Indian Resource Council in Canada. Our organization represents first nations who have produced or have direct interests in the oil and gas sector. O

Environment committee  Absolutely, but that comes with a lack of understanding. Of course, when you start putting science behind money and money behind science, you're going to have polarized views, and of course, when we talk about public money, that's all money that was generated from somewhere. Righ