A vision for real reconciliation on resources

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2025 (339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada and other countries are caught in an unprecedented, American-caused economic restructuring.

Out of this turmoil lies an opportunity for a socio-economic transformation of Canada’s northern regions — a transformation that, if we are deliberate and strategic, can bring increased and sustained prosperity to one of Canada’s poorest regions.

At the University College of the North, we host Linkages, a major conference to consider the economic future of the North.

The consensus is that northern Manitoba must respond quickly and creatively to the challenges of 2025. We face pressure to develop transportation corridors, mineral resources, and hydroelectric potential. The people of Northern Manitoba are determined to ensure the anticipated development wave brings long-term benefits.

A convergence of events and circumstances has profound consequences for Manitoba’s North. These include:

• An increasing demand for critical minerals to “decarbonize” a world rapidly impacted by climate change (and none more- so than our northern regions).

• Geopolitical unrest, focusing on the strategic resource and defensive advantage of our northern and Arctic regions.

• Growing calls to make Canada a clean-energy superpower.

• A national effort to expand global export infrastructure to ensure Canadian goods and resources can reach partners and allies.

• A North American initiative to “reshore” manufacturing and production capacity.

Taken together, these conditions could make northern Manitoba the centrepiece of Canada’s economic renewal.

It won’t be easy.

Access to resources doesn’t guarantee prosperity. The profit-and-loss equation must be respected. Investors need a return on their investment, and the fragile mix of capital, demand, technical expertise, skilled labour, and political will must align at the right time and place to move projects forward.

In this new age of economic turmoil and the urgent need to reorient Canada’s economy — the country must act quickly to protect and grow our standard of living. In the 2025 federal election, all parties acknowledge that rapid resource development is the dominant opportunity for sustained prosperity.

Shifting to a high-intensity resource economy will bring opportunity and pressure to northern Manitoba. Even before 2025 supercharged the resource economy, the promise of mineral discoveries had been made.

Federal and provincial politicians, alert to the impact of Trumpian disruptions, are clearing the way for development.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has made mineral development central to the province’s economic strategy, creating a critical minerals office and funding four First Nations to launch mining workforce development programs.

The 2025 federal election campaign has unusually highlighted Manitoba projects as national priorities. The Hudson Bay Railway may get a massive upgrade, along with an expansion of the Port of Churchill — key to opening new global markets for Western Canadian resources.

There is broader consideration is being given to resource corridors across the prairie North.

We also understand that past resource development was unkind to Indigenous Peoples and the long-term socio-economic health of the region. Poorly planned development uprooted lives. The railway to Churchill opened large areas to development but never fulfilled its potential. Hydroelectric dams, including Grand Rapids and the five generating stations along the Nelson River, caused widespread disconnection — the effects of which persist today.

Indigenous Peoples endured tremendous hardship. Harvesting was disrupted, centuries-old lifestyles undermined, and an influx of outsiders overturned long-standing relationships with the land.

Though long battles for compensation resulted in some financial settlements, communities suffered through decades of separation from land, traditions, and culture.

Today, new development is viewed through the prism of this disruptive history. Indigenous Peoples remain understandably suspicious of new projects — from ecological promises to jobs and economic opportunity. Governments promise protection and environmental responsibility, but few are reassured.

They’ve heard it all before.

Communities have learned. Indigenous economic development corporations now maximize commercial returns. Impact and benefit agreements outline community benefits — including revenue sharing, payments to local governments, and participation in development.

Many Indigenous communities in other jurisdictions have delivered hundreds of millions in benefits. The most forward-looking among them have established trust accounts to provide multi-generational prosperity.

All Manitobans have a stake in northern development, and all must help prevent a repeat of past injustices.

We must prioritize education and training and demand developers create real opportunities for community members and businesses. Most importantly, Indigenous and northern people must be active participants in planning and operations.

Northern Manitobans are ready for a new future. They want jobs, business opportunities, and an end to multi-generational poverty. They want sustained prosperity. They want to help shape the future — not be pushed to the economic sidelines. Indigenous Peoples insist on recognition of their rights and want control over development.

Current pressure to develop resources could repeat past mistakes.

We must rethink the rules of northern resource development and ensure — for once — that the primary benefits accrue to those closest to the resource.

Real reconciliation occurs when Indigenous and northern people are included in development and when their communities achieve a standard of living equal to the rest of Canada.

Northern Manitoba is still far from this reasonable and attainable goal.

Sheila North is from Bunibonibee Cree Nation, a former grand chief, and member of the UCN Governing Council. Doug Lauvstad is president and vice-chancellor of University College of the North and a proud Northerner.