Thank you. Miigwetch. 

It is a great honour and a great pleasure to open this summit.

I'm going to say a few words, and then I'm going to listen for the day.

I listened carefully to Verna. Thank you for starting the meeting in a good way and placing the emphasis on listening. We are here to listen, and we are starting as we mean to go forward, by listening, engaging, and working together.

And thank you, Grand Chief, for being here with us. I know that many of you, virtually all of you, have travelled very long distances to be here, and I welcome all the rights-holders, nations, and treaty and non-treaty territories represented here this morning, as well as those of you who are joining us virtually.

I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the many First Nations that have been impacted by the devastating wildfires. I would also like to compliment my colleagues, ministers Chartrand, Alty, Gull-Masty, and Olszewski, who have worked tirelessly to help provide support to First Nations to combat these fires and protect our people. There are multiple leaders who could not be here today due to the fires. Our commitment is to make sure that they are engaged and included in the conversations as we move forward. We'll also be launching a regional dialogue and a consultation process that will provide further opportunity for input and feedback.

Today is about the future of our economies and how we weave them together, so that they're stronger together. How we can build a new economy together, an economy that moves from reliance to resilience.

We have too much reliance on a certain foreign market and on certain commodities. We can build resilience, but we can only build resilience together.

We have to move from division to unity, from silos into partnership.

Now, we will discuss the new One Canadian Economy Act, and particularly the Building Canada Act. We will discuss what it means and how we can bring it to life in the right way.

I really want to emphasize that this law is a way of starting a conversation and starting a process. We will define that process going forward.

This law will enable Canada to build big things that will connect and transform our national economy. They will create great careers, not just jobs, but careers for the people that we serve, and provide the resources for health, for education, and for social services that our people deserve.

It's about giving ourselves more than any foreign government can ever take away. It's about controlling our economic destiny together.

With this legislation, the word “nation” carries more than one meaning.

We will build our national economy through Indigenous equity and full participation – equity participation – and resource management. These projects will be built with Indigenous partners, with Indigenous communities.

The economic value of these projects will be shared with First Nations as partners. We will help build the prosperity of your communities for generations to come.

By moving forward together, we can write a new chapter in the relationship between the Government of Canada and First Nations.

And those aren't just words. This is not an aspiration. This is the law. This is the law as it is written. That plan is embedded in the law itself. In many respects, this is the first federal legislation to put Indigenous economic growth at its core. We now have the opportunity to realize it.

So, today, we are going to discuss how we can do this together, particularly by hearing directly from you about what you want to build and how you want to build, to help build our nations.

Consultation, co-operation and participation are at the heart of this law. That is how a nation is built. It is how we developed this legislation, and you have my word on it. That is how we will move forward.

We have an ambitious agenda today. Our objectives are four-fold.

First, we will discuss how best to work together meaningfully through engagement and consultation.

Secondly, we will review the role of the new Major Projects Office and how it will work with the new Indigenous Advisory Council to get big projects built in the right way.

Third, we will discuss how the federal government can work with First Nations to build opportunities for equitable economic prosperity, partnership, and full participation in major projects.

And finally, at the end, I will help moderate a session on how we can work together on the implementation of this legislation. And during that session, I will be very happy to take your questions.

I will be here throughout the day, and I look forward to having informal discussions with as many of you as possible.

The conversations today are about hearing from you as participants in building First Nations communities, as we, together, build our nation. We fully recognize there are perspectives, which is exactly why we have assembled this group. Thank you again for coming physically, virtually, and in spirit.

To further that outreach, next week, I will meet with the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, and soon thereafter, with Métis leadership to continue these conversations.

But before I cede the floor, I just want to spend a few more moments on how we would like to move forward. Respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples is a fundamental purpose of the Building Canada Act. This law requires meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples, both in the process of determining which projects are in our collective interest, and in the development of the conditions for those projects going forward. This is a legal requirement in the law, which honours Section 35 of our Constitution and the duty to consult. It upholds the government's commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including free, prior, and informed consent.

To help put this into action, the new Major Projects Office will have an Indigenous Advisory Council to advise on the implementation of this bill to ensure that Indigenous perspectives are fully integrated at each stage of the process.

The Indigenous Advisory Council will be comprised of First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Government representatives. We will talk more about the structure and the operation of that council later today.

Now, being a reliable partner to Indigenous Peoples goes beyond upholding the duty to consult. It goes to creating and enabling the creation of long-term wealth and prosperity for Indigenous Peoples through full equity ownership of projects.

And that's why we decided to double the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program to $10 billion – enabling more Indigenous communities to acquire equity ownership of major projects without cost. We have substantially broadened the types of projects that are eligible for this through this type of financing from across the natural resource and energy sectors, from electricity generation to environmental technologies such as carbon capture, to critical minerals, port infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, and beyond.

These are the major projects that we are looking to build as a country.

We are also dedicating $40 million in funding to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis participation in this process – money that will help build capacity for negotiations, project selection, and development. We would like to have your direct feedback on the parameters for this funding to ensure that it’s most effective.

The Building Canada Act defines projects in the national interest as those which meet five criteria:

• Strengthen Canada's autonomy, resilience, and security;
• Provide economic or other benefits to Canada;
• Have a high likelihood of successful execution;
• Advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples; and
• Contribute to clean development and to meeting our environmental objectives.

Examples of those projects could include highways, railways, ports, and new energy and trade corridors. There is no list of those projects yet. There are ideas out there. Projects will be proposed by many stakeholders. The provinces have ideas. There will be ideas from the private sector, and there will be ideas directly from First Nations.

There are multiple ways that we can collaborate on these projects, and I just want to highlight a few recent examples before I close.

Cedar LNG is a new floating liquefied natural gas processing facility and export terminal in British Columbia. It is a partnership between a private company, Pembina Pipeline, and the Haisla Nation. The Haisla Nation wanted this project built, and the federal government worked with the Haisla Nation to provide the financing for equity ownership. This project is the gold standard for infrastructure projects in Canada, creating over 400 jobs, generating over $275 million in GDP during construction, and an additional $85 million annually thereafter. Much of that will go directly to the community.

It will be powered by clean energy and produce ultra low-carbon liquefied natural gas to export to international markets in Asia – diversifying our trade relationships and strengthening our economy here at home.

It is the type of project that's transformative and serves as an example on which we can build. It will help change the lives of the workers and community members for generations because of that flow of future income that goes directly to the community.

Because of the opportunities that projects like this create – whether it's Cedar LNG, the Enbridge Westcoast natural gas pipeline, or the partnership between Hydro-Québec and the Kahnawake Mohawk, there are children who will grow up with a greater sense of security and possibility.

There will be more resources for First Nations to determine how to use them, whether in community centres, health clinics, schools, and beyond.

There will be a foundation on which our people can build good, fulfilling lives. Really, in the end, what this is about, is building our country strong to empower our people with opportunity, with security and prosperity. That is what we can build together.

Today’s conversations will be essential for achieving that. I thank you all for being here, for your participation, and for your candour. In partnership with Indigenous Peoples, we will build great things here in Canada.

Canada's new government is committed to working together so we can build Canada together for everyone's benefit.

I want to thank you again for being here today. I want to thank you for considering putting your trust in this process. I want to thank you in advance for the work that we will do together today – and in the months and years ahead. 

And now, we will get to work. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you. Miigwetch.