Former AFN chief Phil Fontaine hired by TransCanada Pipeline

[Oscar]

Former AFN chief Phil Fontaine hired by TransCanada Pipeline Ltd

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SHAWN McCARTHY, The Globe and Mail, Dec 8, 2013

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e15818477/ ]

Phil Fontaine, former AFN chief, has also worked for the Royal Bank of Canada, then one of the biggest investors in Tar Sands.

On its 4,000-kilometre path across the country, TransCanada Corp.’s Energy East’s pipeline would traverse the traditional territory of 180 different aboriginal communities, each of whom must be consulted and have their concerns accommodated as part of the company’s effort at winning project approval.

The Energy East plan is to bring 1.1 million barrels per day of western crude to eastern Canadian refineries and export terminals; it has been touted by politicians and its proponents as a nation-building exercise, and by industry as providing access to new markets for landlocked crude.

But native leaders want to ensure that they see some benefits from the $12-billion project and they could present a challenging obstacle to its completion if they feel excluded. On Tuesday, First Nations leaders gathering in Gatineau, Que., will launch an effort to devise their own national energy strategy.

Calgary-based TransCanada has hired Phil Fontaine – former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations – to help it win the support of native communities from Alberta to New Brunswick.

TransCanada is just the latest company to grapple with the challenge of how to work with aboriginal Canadians to develop pipelines, oil and gas projects, mines and electricity generation, while maintaining the commercial focus on speedy execution and cost control.

The country is at a critical juncture in relations between government, industry and aboriginal communities.

The federal government estimates there is $650-billion worth of resource projects to be developed in the next decade, and virtually all of them are in areas claimed by various aboriginal groups as part of their traditional lands.

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