The Indigenous Resource Network (IRN) unveiled a campaign to advocate for indigenous ownership in natural resources projects. .“The problems our communities are facing is that there are few mechanisms to access the necessary capital for investing in projects and having equity” said IRN Executive Director Robert Merasty in a Tuesday press release. .“Having a National Indigenous Guaranteed Loan Program is a step the federal government can take that will help First Nations get the capital needed to become partners and owners of the projects on our own lands.”.The release said the loan program should be modelled after ones in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. .It said this program should guarantee loans at competitive rates for indigenous communities. The program should support indigenous people by providing them with decision making powers. .The IRN said there should be no discrimination based on the resources used in the projects. These loans should focus on indigenous goals and values. .The release said this loan program will promote self-determination by developing more opportunities for economic development. Other ideas that could support this goal include an indigenous infrastructure bank and factoring indigenous metrics into environmental, social, and governance funding. .“Indigenous ownership in major projects is a win-win for industry, indigenous people and Canadians,” said Merasty. .“A National Guaranteed Loan Program is a no-brainer to move that forward.” .This initiative comes around the time social justice trainers were caught telling a group of TD Bank employees not to vote for the Conservatives because they don't care about indigenous people. .READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: TD diversity trainers caught telling employees to not vote Conservative.“From what I know, Conservatives go against a lot of what indigenous people are trying to do because they advocate for pipelines,” said Carol, a trainer. .“They don’t want indigenous people to have a voice.”. TD caught on tapeTD caught on tape
