Earlier this year, one of the largest equity investments by First Nations in B.C.’s energy sector was announced, the $715 million Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance agreement. The deal involves three dozen First Nations that now own 12.5 percent of Enbridge’s B.C. pipeline system, which is being expanded.
One of the negotiators involved in brokering that agreement was Justin Napoleon of the Saulteau First Nation, who has developed a reputation as a keen negotiator who understands the concerns and interests of both First Nations and industry.
A one-time chief of the Saulteau First Nation, Napoleon also has a professional background working in the energy sector as a power engineer. He is also an entrepreneur who co-owns a construction business with his brother. It is that background that led Sedgwick Strategies to bring Napoleon in as an adviser and an associate.
“As an entrepreneur, he understands how business works,” said Allie Meeres, executive vice-president and partner for Sedgwick Strategies, a major projects consulting firm. “He worked in the energy sector, so he understands how the proponent side thinks and works.”
“He was also chief of his nation, where he negotiated the biggest-ever settlement with the federal and provincial governments for their treaty land entitlement claims, so he really understands the nation’s side.”
Napoleon is a member of the Saulteau, one of eight First Nations in B.C. that are signatories to Treaty 8. He learned about the energy sector by working in it as a power engineer. He got his power engineering certification through SAIT in Alberta and then did his foundation trades training through Northern Lights College.
He started off as a wind turbine service technician at one of the wind farms in the region. In 2010, he went to work for Spectra Energy as a natural gas plant operator. Meanwhile, he and his brother also started a civil construction and logging company, Nap-how Contracting.
When an opportunity came up to work for Spectra’s Pine River plant in Chetwynd, Napoleon transferred there, where he raised two sons. He still lives in Chetwynd. In 2020, he ran for, and was elected to, the Saulteau band council and was appointed chief councillor. He served one term as chief, during which time he was involved in negotiating agreements between the provincial and federal governments and the Treaty 8 First Nations.
That included a major land entitlement settlement that included monetary compensation and 109,385 acres of Crown land to the Treaty 8 nations that had been shortchanged on land entitlements.
Napoleon played an important role in developing First Nation equity options on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. In linear projects like oil and gas pipelines, project developers typically negotiate impact benefits agreements with First Nations. In the case of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, TC Energy proposed that First Nations along the pipeline take 10 percent equity positions in the pipeline.
The original proposal would have required participating First Nations to raise the necessary capital up front, a risk some First Nations were hesitant to take, Napoleon explained. “It really put the nation at risk,” he said. He proposed an alternative, structuring the agreements so that equity positions in the pipeline could be exercised as an option after the pipeline was complete. “At the end of the day, that was how all of the nations ended up signing onto the agreement, as an option,” Napoleon said.
The most recent major negotiation Napoleon has been involved in was the Stonlasec8 agreement with Enbridge. Napoleon was appointed by the eight B.C. Treaty 8 nations to represent them in the negotiations. He served on the transaction committee and, after the deal closed, he was appointed to the Stonlasec8 board of directors. Participating nations have raised the money for the equity through corporate bond offerings and federal government loan guarantees.
Napoleon and Sedgwick were involved in arranging a $400 million federal loan guarantee for the equity deal through the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. “We were actually the first successful applicant to the new federal loan guarantee program,” Napoleon said.
Being so conversant in both Indigenous and business affairs has made Napoleon a sought-after bridge builder by companies like Sedgwick, which appointed him as an associate.
“Most of the work we’re doing with Justin is working to build partnerships between nations and proponents,” Meeres said. “He’s seen as a bridge builder, facilitator of those nations who don’t always get along. He is someone who is seen across all Treaty 8 as someone who really brings everyone together.”
Nelson Bennett’s column appears weekly at Resource Works News.
Contact him at nelson@resourceworks.com
