Many in politics and media would have you believe that First Nations’ people and natural resource development are somehow at odds, but nothing could be further from the truth. Oil and gas is the largest private sector employer of First Nations’ people in Canada, and in Alberta 44% of First Nations’ communities are expected to benefit from energy sector development.
Energy sector partnerships are one of the most tangible means by which Indigenous communities are able to tackle the profound poverty many of them face on a daily basis. They’re a source of hope for a brighter tomorrow and real prosperity for these communities who have been mired down in a system of oppressive and often hopeless socialism.
Rebel News was on location at this year’s National Coalition of Chiefs Energy and Natural Resource Summit in Tsuut’ina Nation just outside of Calgary, where First Nations’ leaders were gathering to discuss energy sector development and its role in tackling on-reserve poverty.
We spoke with Dale Swampy, the president of the National Coalition of Chiefs, and other First Nations’ leaders who emphasized the importance of their active participation in the process of creating wealth and alleviating indigence, and highlighted how the energy sector is one of the few places where opportunities like these are available.
We also spoke with Calgary City Councillor Dan McLean, who served as keynote speaker at the event.
Furthermore, we talked to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers CEO Lisa Baiton and the CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce among others who all echoed the clear message that oil, gas and energy jobs and partnerships are reducing poverty and creating opportunity for these communities. They confirmed that First Nations’ people are poised not only to tackle economic hardships, but to become a driving economic force in Canada.
If you want to see First Nations’ communities continue to tackle poverty, you must be pro-energy development. Radical environmental activists would see the wealth earned by these communities through oil and gas erased, and the reality is First Nations’ communities simply can’t afford a blow like that just as they are seeing meaningful change.
