Taglines aside, First Nations investment could nearly double Canada’s economy

Opinion

Canada’s Indigenous services minister had a startling response in explaining why First Nations infrastructure projects, such as nursing stations and broadband internet, don’t qualify as “projects of the national interest.”

“I think what has to be clarified with major projects is there are five criteria,” Mandy Gull-Masty, the minister and former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees said during an interview with CBC on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“One of the criteria for major projects is really that it contributes to the economy, and that means large-scale projects that generate revenue… They (also) have an additional requirement to attract investment.”

As a followup question, Adrienne Arsenault asked, “Could you not make an argument that (First Nations infrastructure) would contribute to the economy in the long term?”

“There are 13 economies in this country… major economies,” Gull-Masty said, citing the goal of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s One Canadian Economy Act. “First Nations communities have micro-economies.”

It was an astonishing response from the minister in charge of service delivery for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in this country.

The Assembly of First Nations says there is a $349.2-billion “infrastructure gap” — resulting in unsuitable housing, schools, health care, roads and basic services such as water treatment — on more than 400 First Nations in this country.

Canadian cities, towns and rural communities don’t lack in infrastructure because Canadian political leaders have used Canadian tax dollars for more than 150 years to build these places.

These same Canadian leaders have made choices not to invest in First Nations.

The results for First Nations citizens are devastating: higher poverty, worse life expectancy, lower rates of educational attainment, lack of access to nurses and doctors, and poor, dangerous roads to travel on and places where water is dangerous to use.

All of these things come with massive costs for the health-care, education, justice and child-welfare systems.

Yet, there is a well-researched, fairly obvious and just solution. It would cost $349.2 billion dollars.

That’s a lot of taxpayer money.

Comparatively, when the prime minister announced the first five projects being recommended by his cabinet to the Major Projects Office, he priced the cost to taxpayers at $60 billion for two mines, a port terminal, a nuclear reactor and a natural gas facility.

Investing in First Nations infrastructure is more expensive — but would pay far more than any of those projects.

An AFN report found that with political will and a concerted, focused national effort, the “infrastructure gap” on First Nations could be addressed by 2030.

With disciplinary budgetary controls, responsible and ethical politicians, and smart re-allocations of tax dollars, the savings would more than make this up.

It would also deal with what is becoming an untenable, unsustainable crisis on First Nations everywhere, not to mention the escalating costs to deal with it.

Waiting until 2040 to invest in First Nations infrastructure would not only create further harm and costs but result in an overall price tag increase to $527 billion.

For those of you keeping score, that’s the cost of 15 additional mines, ports, nuclear reactors and gas facilities in “the national interest.”

In other words, if we don’t deal with the issues on First Nations, we are going to have to “develop” the land into an environmental catastrophe to pay for something that is solvable today.

This is not to mention the incredible lost opportunity – and arguably one of the most lucrative chances Canada has to invest in itself.

A study by the Conference Board of Canada found investments in on-reserve housing, schools, health care, roads and water treatment will result in $635 billion in economic output, 2.4 million jobs, and — wait for it — $87 billion in government revenue.

With every $1 invested in First Nations, Canadians would receive $1.82 back in savings, productivity and tax dollars.

So much for First Nations “micro-economies.”

Investments in First Nations infrastructure would generate billions of dollars of revenue and a macro-economy bigger than most of the other 13 provinces and economic regions in the country.

In fact, investing in First Nations would create a national, homegrown and great Canadian economy.

Surely, because of her career experience and portfolio alone, Gull-Masty no doubt knew this when she answered the question posed last week.

She could have cited the new Build Canada Homes agency, a Carney government initiative to double housing construction in the country and build on First Nations, but she didn’t.

She answered with a tagline.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca