Photo: Canadian Press

By Connor Gunn/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Premier announces opportunities for “Indigenous investment”

Feb 14, 2022 | 5:50 PM

STANDOFF, AB – In Kainai Monday, Premier Jason Kenney announced the expansion of “opportunities for Indigenous investment in major agriculture, telecommunications and transportation projects and related infrastructure.”

The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) says it will continue to create jobs, fuel growth, and diversify the economy.

“Alberta’s government is committed to making life better for Indigenous communities by working together to boost economic opportunities. Expanding the AIOC’s mandate ensures Indigenous communities can be true partners in prosperity. This will help create jobs now and into the future, while helping diversify the economy and advancing reconciliation,” Kenney adds.

The AIOC was created to allow access to capital, making financing more affordable and improving lending terms for Indigenous groups interested in participating in major projects.

Indigenous groups and communities will be able to develop their commercial opportunities, which were previously difficult to secure debt in a timely manner and on market terms.

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Makiinima, Chief Roy Fox, Kainai/Blood Tribe, says restrictions like these have limited growth in Kainai.

“These restrictions severely limited our community’s ability to build commercial enterprises that will enable us to achieve our vision of financial sovereignty.”

The AIOC provides up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to reduce the cost of capital for Indigenous groups and support their own communities in raising capital to invest in economic development projects.

To date, the province says the AIOC has backstopped $160 million in loan guarantees to support Indigenous investment in three major natural resource projects:

1. $93 million to a group of six First Nations for the Cascade Power Project
2. $40 million to eight Indigenous communities in the Wood Buffalo region to finance the Northern Courier Pipeline System
3. $27 million to Frog Lake First Nation to invest in Strathcona Resources’ Lindbergh Cogeneration facility.

Additional information can be found at the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.