Kinew touts Crown-Indigenous corporation In state of the province address, premier says new agency will oversee northern port expansion By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:51 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 Last Modified: 7:33 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 Updates

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The Port of Churchill’s expansion could be the first project steered by a new Crown corporation where Indigenous nations are equally involved in decision-making.

Currently, organizers are building the Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corporation’s board. Half the board — six people — will represent the provincial government. Citizens of Indigenous nations will consume the latter half.

Premier Wab Kinew touted the Crown entity at his third state of the province address Tuesday.

“The idea is we set up a structure that allows us to work together — share the revenue, share the benefits,” he told a crowd of roughly 1,200 business and Indigenous leaders.

The New Democrats plan to introduce legislation for the Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corporation next spring. They first announced the entity — which will be the first of its kind — in a throne speech last month.

Government will “hand off the baton” of working with Ottawa’s Major Projects Office on the Port of Churchill as the new Crown corporation materializes, Kinew told reporters.

The port could be the first of many projects overseen by the joint provincial-Indigenous board. Mines and infrastructure builds are future potentials, Kinew said.

“By the time you end up in a courtroom on a big project, you’ve already lost,” he stated. “Right from the earliest steps and through every step of the way, we’re going to be in partnership working together.”

The goal is, partly, to share wealth with impoverished First Nations. Kinew said First Nations have a “healthy amount of skepticism” of economic projects due to past mistreatment.

“It’s not hard to see why. You grew up in a community that’s dirt poor right next to an economic project that generates billions of dollars,” he said.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Métis Federation are involved in the Crown corporation’s inception. Leaders of both applauded the new initiative Tuesday.

“We think about the discussion that’s happening regarding the lands and resources of Canada. First Nations voices need to be heard,” said Kyra Wilson, grand chief of the AMC.

“A lot of work” must be done to build trust with First Nations and ensure everyone is on the same page, Wilson continued. The AMC represents all 63 First Nations in Manitoba.

“This sets, I think, a real learned position by other provinces to look at Manitoba,” said David Chartrand, the Manitoba Métis Federation’s president.

He believes concessions from both the province and Indigenous nations will be required for the board’s formation.

Provincial and federal governments have a duty to consult Indigenous groups on projects affecting those nations. The new Crown corporation could help ease the process, said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

During his speech, Kinew appealed to business groups to invest in bringing products to tidewater.

“You tell us what products,” he said. “Right now, if I had to guess, I would say the big opportunity is with LNG (liquified natural gas).”

The Crown corporation will take a stake in viable opportunities, Kinew continued.

He pegged a major northern port and related infrastructure as growing Manitoba’s gross domestic product by four to five per cent once complete.

Kinew also gave an update on grocery legislation the province passed in June. By last Monday, grocers needed to apply to maintain buffers around their stores that prevent competition from sprouting nearby.

Twenty of 66 property controls didn’t apply to keep their zones. Kinew said he’s directed Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu to challenge the remaining 46. The new law allows for anyone to challenge such areas; the Municipal Board could break a property control if it deems the move beneficial to the public.

“We think that the independent adjudicator will hopefully see that there’s a public interest in having more competition when it comes to grocery prices,” Kinew said.

Grocery prices are an international issue, Remillard noted.

“If the government… feels that eliminating this geographic ban, if you will, will help the issue, that is for them to investigate,” Remillard said. “I think Manitobans recognize that the issue of grocery prices is something far just beyond a Manitoba challenge.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com