(MAY 23, 2019 – Vancouver, BC) – The Board of Directors of the Indian Resource Council and the First Nations Major Projects Coalition have signed a memorandum of understanding to support their members interests.
The purpose of the MOU is to better position their member First Nations to make informed business decisions in major capital projects such as infrastructure, transportation and energy initiatives. IRC and FNMPC intend to work together to ensure that their member First Nations have access to technical skills, capital and other resources to evaluate, participate, and have ownership in selected projects that are equitable and mutually beneficial to the economies of First Nations and Canada.
“This MOU signing represents a historic development in our ability as Indigenous people to come together from different regions and exercise our interests and build capacity around the business decisions we need to make regarding development in our territories. The narrative in Canada has to change and today we have committed to take our tools and best practices and share them with one another across provincial boundaries,” stated FNMPC Chair Councillor Sharleen Gale.
According to Wallace Fox, Chairman of the IRC Board, “This MOU is an important step towards harnessing our collective strength as First Nations peoples to secure economic benefits associated with major projects for the benefit of those that we serve. There is synergy in our respective mandates; we want to exploit this opportunity to move forward in a good way.”
Moving forward, the IRC and FNMPC have committed to a coordinated approach to working together in order to address capacity requests from First Nations requiring access to sustained tools and best practices regarding major resource and infrastructure development.
About the FNMPC
The Coalition is a non-political, First Nation led business capacity organization with a growing membership of 54 First Nations nationally. The Coalition’s technical services are provided free of cost to First Nations. The Coalition is not industry or project specific in focus and supports the ability of its members, who retain the individual authority to make informed decisions concerning project opportunities.
About the IRC
The Indian Resource Council of Canada (IRC) is a national advocacy organization that represents the oil and gas and energy interests of its First Nations members both on Reserve and traditional lands. The IRC advocates for a greater participation and involvement of its members in all aspects of energy development – upstream, downstream, midstream and renewables – as employees, employers, owners and equity participants. The IRC works closely with industry and government regulators to ensure that energy projects are developed in environmentally sustainable ways and that economic benefits associated with this industry accrue to its members.
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