Chana Martineau, Indigenous CEO of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) joined our Stewart Muir for a Power Struggle podcast interview.
Since she came on board as CEO, the AIOC has helped 43 Indigenous communities take part in projects worth over $700 million. Alberta has increased AIOC’s loan guarantee capacity to $3 billion.
Here’s a lightly edited version of what she told Stewart:
“Indigenous communities have always been heavily involved in the energy industry. I grew up in an oilpatch household in Alberta, so my family’s been involved in the energy industry for decades, and so when the AIOC was created and it was announced in 2019 by Jason Kenney’s government, I thought yes, this is it.
“This is the impetus and the enhancer that Indigenous communities really need to fully participate in our economy. I was so excited about the organization that I just couldn’t let it go, and so I ended up joining the board in 2020, and I ended up being CEO not too long after that.
“The government of Alberta said to us to deploy a billion dollars in loan guarantees . . . and don’t lose a nickel! So really have a strong focus on quality, supporting really strong economically viable partnerships to protect the loan guarantee and the government of Alberta balance sheet, and yet deploy a billion dollars.
“That’s a big number, and what we’ve seen is that there is so much demand from both the Indigenous community side to invest, particularly in energy projects, but others, and also from industry, big companies that you’ve seen Indigenous groups partner with.
“Enbridge is an example that sticks out. There are many others that really come together to make a business better through Indigenous partnership, and so the government of Alberta saw the opportunity. They saw the economic development opportunities not only for Indigenous community but for the province as a whole, and so they increased that limit to $3 billion.
“One of the most important things for capital markets is certainty of access, and we were starting to look like we were going to run out of capital and no one wants to embark down a path if that loan-guarantee capacity is not available, so that’s why the increase to $3 billion.
“The Indian Act is still in effect today and it is wide-ranging and all-encompassing. So First Nations cannot hold collateral the same way that non-First-Nations people can. Due to restrictions in the Indian Act, if I live on reserve, I cannot hold collateral for a home, a vehicle, in the same way that you can living off-reserve, and so that has held back Indigenous communities from participation in the economy because they can’t invest.
“How do you normally invest, build a business, build your own personal net worth through a home, other types of investments? You borrow. Indigenous people are held back from that ability. You legally can’t hold collateral.
“So if I have a home on-reserve, I do not own the land attached to it. You cannot hold title to that land. You can never own a home.
“Now there are varying ways that the Canadian government has tried to work around that and provide opportunity. And AIOC is one of those large-scale opportunities to try to work around the restrictions in the Indian Act.
“We’re catching up after more than a century of being held back. This is a way to accelerate participation in the economy. The interesting part of this, though, is not only does it accelerate Indigenous-community participation, Métis, First Nations and Inuit, it also helps accelerate business and investment and the capital cycle.
“I like to talk about us supporting the natural cycle of capital, not interrupting it. So a loan guarantee is this: We act as the collateral. Think of them like giant mortgages — a power plant instead of a home, a pipeline infrastructure system instead of a home. But it works very much in the same way.
“The Alberta government balance sheet then acts as the collateral for that loan, because First Nations people and Indigenous people can’t hold collateral in the same way (as non-Indigenous people).
“And then the other part is their income stream, the funding that they get from the federal government under the current construct. They get a certain pool for housing, they get a certain pool for education. The band has no ability to reallocate those resources. You cannot take those funds and redeploy them to business opportunities if you want to, because the funding is tied to specific projects.
“So AIOC has been designed to help bridge the gap without having the lengthy negotiations that would be involved in renegotiating the Indian Act. And the Alberta government has taken this as a proactive way in our own jurisdiction, things that the Alberta government can control. We have then inspired I’ll call it other governments to follow suit.
“So the federal (Indigenous loan-guarantee) program is being launched in response not only to our program but to others. What we’re seeing as a nation, I think, is how the collective involvement of Indigenous people in our economy is actually an accelerator.
“When we look at something like the Trans Mountain Pipeline, maybe you come to the table with collaborative solutions, and I think the energy transition is enhanced by having Indigenous people at the table. We naturally think in terms of seven generations and long-term investments.
“If you start with that Indigenous partnership, you’re also then getting the wisdom and the benefit of Indigenous history and culture and view of the land. You can head off potential errors or mistakes because of traditional knowledge from time immemorial as you build those projects together.
“So how much more productivity could we have, how much quicker could we be to market, how much stronger and more economically viable can we be with Indigenous people together at the table with business?
“Ontario had a smaller version of (an Indigenous loan-guarantee program) and only focused on electrical distribution. The beauty of this, the leadership here in Alberta, has been the programs are emerging to come together. Ontario has morphed their program to be more like ours, be more expansive, more inclusive, a higher threshold of improvements.
“Saskatchewan has launched a program. BC has announced a program. The federal program announced their first deal not long ago. We’ve had reach-outs from Latin America, from Japan, from Australia. There are many countries around the world that suffer the legacy of colonial issues that we do in Canada. We are not alone and everyone is looking at us.
“What we do is to make a more attractive interest rate. So the economic-reconciliation part is a greater return on that investment to Indigenous people. That investment is then used to invest in other things, future businesses, community centres. I think we’ve all heard about the infrastructure gap, both in our nation, but especially on reserve and in the Indigenous communities, and so these are funds that are being used to reinvest the proceeds back into communities.
“We believe that north of $25 million a year will flow into communities in Alberta, and north of $1.3 billion will flow in over the lifetime of the loan guarantees we provided to date.
“And what does that mean in terms of schools, housing, water? One of my very favourite stories is the Whitefish Lake First Nation in northeastern Alberta. Their arena burned down 30 years ago. You have nowhere to participate in athletics, you have nowhere to learn about teams, you have nowhere to learn about leadership. Your school’s underfunded, it’s hard to get there and the nearest arena is an hour away.
“If you’re a single mother, how do you take your child to hockey or any of the winter sports that Canadians are passionate about? And so then they lose those skills and they lose that productivity. And then what does that look like? You’re a teenager with sort of no productive outlet for your energies.
“That community talks about a lost generation, and then that lost generation impacts not only the First Nation itself, but all the surrounding communities, all the towns around them. When you have productive, happy, healthy citizens contributing, you’re accelerating the economy, contributing in a healthy way.
“I was so proud that Whitefish Lake First Nation has taken their proceeds, arranged financing through First Nations Bank and built a community centre, an omniplex that will have an arena. It’ll be a place for them to gather, it will be a healthy heart for their community and they talk about the excitement and a centre, a healthy place for their people.
“And the Elizabeth Métis Settlement in Alberta bought a van with one of the proceeds of some of their investments to transport their elders to community events so the young people have connections to the elders and can stay in touch with the culture.
“Think about how these youth are growing up in a healthy environment and that makes those communities far more healthy. And how do the individuals coming out of that community contribute to our society at large? So it’s better for the Indigenous communities, but it’s better for all Albertans and all Canadians.
“(Through the AIOC’s program) Alberta will then provide the guarantee for the Indigenous community. It’s typically a consortium, a group of communities together, often both Métis and First Nation, and so it’s really just adding a third party at the table between the Indigenous communities, the company that they’re working with to make that investment, and then the bank, and then we will support the entire ecosystem, through negotiations. “We work to make sure that the Alberta taxpayer is protected against default, so we will add special provisions to cover what happens if the income fluctuates, in the same way that the bank wants to know that your mortgage is covered if you have a disability and you can’t work. They want insurance. We’ll do similar kinds of things.
“None of the money comes out of the government of Alberta bucket unless there’s a default. So it’s called a contingent liability. It’s like a co-signer If you co-sign for someone’s loan. That’s what the Alberta government is doing.
“We’ve had no defaults to date. We are very stringent in our requirements, so the bar is high. That’s why we don’t do hundreds of these deals. We do a handful. There may be two to three a year. They’re very large, they’re very impactful and we have a $20-million minimum investment size. So these are large-scale infrastructure projects and the credit-risk tolerance is very low and I think that is what is really changing hearts and minds.
“So other governments have kind of watched us carefully to see what we do. We’ve shared our knowledge willingly because we want the ecosystem to thrive, we want Canada to thrive.
“The goal is to generate meaningful returns, net of loan payments. So they’re not easy to do. But we have found partners that have come with us, alongside the communities, to invest in great assets, and so we found great transactions and so far we have had no defaults to date and no provisions for credit loss.
“Our typical investment size is somewhere between $20 million and $250 million of investment, and we’ve supported some very large investments. The Athabasca Indigenous Investments in the Seven Pipelines (in Alberta) with Enbridge was $1.12 billion in total, with a $250-million loan guarantee and an $860-million bond. So we can do some very large-scale investments as well, power plants, pipelines, the things that our economy need to operate.
“A solar farm: Duchess Solar has just been announced recently. Cold Lake First Nation is the First Nation band behind that, in partnership with Elemental Energy. We collaborated with the Canada Infrastructure Bank to bring that financing to life. So sometimes there’s more than one financial institution at the table
“The whole Indigenous financial ecosystem is coming to life. The First Nations Bank has been in existence for a long time but now, led by Bill Lomax, Cedar Leaf Capital is coming, Longhouse Capital is another one. The First Nations Finance Authority is expanding. There is a momentum shift in this country.
“The residential-school experience had been in existence for forever, but I just think it wasn’t broadly appreciated how terrible it was. It led to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations was one of the key drivers to the creation of this organization.
“What I can do is help put economic opportunity and help bring Indigenous peoples into those economic opportunities, so that the leaders of those communities have more revenue and more resources to help address all of the pressing issues of their community. However they prioritize those priorities, we’re just helping them to achieve their goals sooner and I really fundamentally believe we’ll be better off as a country for it.
“Mostly, Indigenous people want the same opportunities as all other Canadians. They want the opportunity for education. They want a healthy, meaningful life. They want good, healthy food and access to clean water. They want their traditional lifestyle as well, and they are very deeply concerned about the environment and the land and nature.
“I think being at the table is an opportunity to help us develop our economy in a very responsible way. I see AIOC and our team as the bringer together of opportunities and those that want to participate.”
Stewart Muir asked if a BC First Nation could get help from the AIOC. Marineau replied:
“There’s two thresholds for AIOC investment support. One is Alberta nations must make up 25 percent of the Indigenous consortium. So something like the Trans Mountain Pipeline, as long as Alberta nations, First Nations or Métis, made up 25 per cent of the broader Indigenous Investment Consortium, then AIOC could support it. Alberta wants to have some economic-development benefit to Alberta.
“I use the Trans Mountain example as one kind of opportunity that we could support, if BC nations and Alberta nations came together to buy a stake in that pipeline system, because it originates in Edmonton, takes our natural resources to the coast, and there’s Alberta and BC Indigenous communities along the way.
“Tourism was just included in our mandate within the last 12 months, and we’re actively looking at transactions and investment opportunities in that space. With our $20-million minimum, these are not small investments. They would be large-scale projects and they’ve got to meet our credit criteria.
“There’s always new things coming to the forefront and you never know what will be the next big economic opportunity. Data centres have been a very topical conversation under the technology front. Could that be something Indigenous? Participation in the data-centre market, or in the powering of those data centres, are all ideas that we’re actively exploring every day.
“Indigenous reconciliation to me is about catching Indigenous peoples up to where we are currently, and so the energy economy that makes a lot of sense. But also we need to position Indigenous peoples to participate in the economic growth of our country as well, or we’ll always be playing catch-up.
“When we think about the tariff situations with the US government, we need to take care of ourselves and be less reliant on others. Indigenous peoples will be a big part of the solutions there. Having ourselves be highly dependent on one customer is typically not good business for any business, and we’re going to have to be deliberate about our choices to get out of that situation.
“I think Prime Minister Carney is a very practical individual. He has led two central banks. I think he is well aware, or I hope he’s well aware, that we need the revenue from our conventional resources, and so I hope and I believe that he will follow through on that. I don’t see how we find our way through the economic situation we’re in without the support of our natural-resource economy.
“And the world wants our energy. Canada has some of the cleanest, most responsibly produced energy in the world, and so when you think about energy security, energy affordability and energy availability, Canada really leads the world in that in a way. I think we’ve taken it for granted before, and so I’m excited about the potential to ship our natural gas to Asia. It really saves our planet from more coal.
“My optimistic vision is that Indigenous peoples are actively engaged in all aspects of our economy, that Indigenous participation is just the norm, and that our Indigenous communities in Alberta are healthy and thriving and that the entire province is stronger for it. I think we’re on our way, I think we have a lot of momentum.
“I guess my biggest challenge, and our challenge for our team, is to help continue to inspire business leaders that this is a great source of capital for their business and that Indigenous partnerships help make their business better. We just we all need to come together to address Canada’s productivity challenges, and I think this is a great way to do it. I think we’re well on our way, but I worry about anything that might slow us down too much or might reverse the tide.
“I’m proud of the work that we have done here together as a team. And so I get up every day thinking how can we advance Indigenous participation? Hw can we make the lives of Indigenous peoples better, whatever that looks like for them, and what’s our role in that? And I can’t help but be optimistic. “
And on a personal note:
“So I’m a horse gal, you know, I’m a mom, I’m an indigenous person (Treaty Cree from Frog Lake First Nation in Alberta). I’m a finance professional, and early in my career all of those things seemed separate. But in this role, doing this work, it feels like the picture has all filled in and all the different parts of myself that didn’t seem congruent earlier in my career now have come together to make sense.
“So I feel like I’m just as comfortable in jeans and boots on the reserve or on the back of a horse as I am in a boardroom in downtown Bay Street. And I’m so honoured and privileged to be able to act as a bridge and help to bring these worlds together, to help find a productive way through. It takes everyone’s great minds at the table, but if I can help, through AIOC and our team, to bring these worlds together to find a great solution and help other jurisdictions across the country do the same, the future is so bright to me.
“I’ve gone through a lot of hardships in my life right and a lot of really tough times, and what my parents went through as teen parents in small town Alberta.
“My grandfather was one of 13 and my dad is one of seven, second youngest of seven, and I was the first person to graduate from university from all of that group, and so I never forgot the opportunities that I had and where I came from and always wanted to give back to Indigenous people and somehow marry my finance career with that. So it wasn’t until I came into this role that I really felt the power of being able to do that.
- Interview video on Power Struggle’s YouTube: https://ow.ly/5lfn50W83zt
- Audio and full transcript: https://ow.ly/KWAY50W83vi
- The AIOC program: https://ow.ly/9aGK50W8320
- Federal Indigenous loan-guarantee program: https://ow.ly/5H0n50W82Zl
- BC Aboriginal Business Loan Program: https://ow.ly/mJMj50W82MX
- Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation: https://ow.ly/IkAM50W82T2
- Manitoba Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program: https://ow.ly/hrf250W83aI
- Ontario Aboriginal Loan Guarantee Program: https://ow.ly/wEVS50W82Wm
- Quebec Indigenous Initiatives Fund: https://ow.ly/fnPm50W83g8
- First Nations Finance Authority: https://ow.ly/KIkN50W83mm
