Thinking about the First Nations Major Projects Coalition Conference. Congrats to all organizers on a job well done. I was pleased to have many conversations with skilled, passionate, experienced and “in the deal flow” people who are involved from a wide range of roles, responsibilities and perspectives.
I wear 2 hats these days, advisor to Chief and Council at Constance Lake First Nation and advisor to leadership and through the firm clients at Mokwateh (who was involved in many significant ways at the FNMPC conference!!! ). Both of these situations allow and encourage Joel to Be Joel, and this post reflects my thoughts alone.
Judging by my conversations at FNMPC I’d put myself in the ‘aggressive’ category in terms of defining the assessments and decision making path to consent and then creating value derived from the exercise of Indigenous rights in agreements between rights holders and counter parties.
I am fortunate to work with Chief Allen and CLFN Council who are committed to creating PRECEDENTS for the people. This week in post conference meetings with government and proponents, on 3 separate occasions we were told we were the first Nation to ever ask for a meeting to discuss the topics we wanted to discuss. We felt good about that! And were encouraged by the conversations.
Over the past decade I have learned a lot, from successes and failures, working with First Nations governments, community members, businesses, and a range of counterparties, including all layers of government. I am now dealing more and more with other advisors, consultants, experts and professional service providers, expanding my network and flow of information.
When I graduated from Ivey Business School at Western University I used to look at the world through the lens of a generalist business analyst, then when I traded through lens of a trader, then as a CEO type business person, then a social entrepreneur in Africa and now more and more I look at life situations through the lens of equity and fairness, seeking ways to create opportunity that is actually executable.
One example that has piqued my curiosity. How do the impacted First Nations in the Elk Valley in BC benefit from the $9 billion Teck Resources Limited sale of a coal business to Glencore transaction? What sort of go forward arrangement are they able to strike? I’d love to be part of a group that discusses these situations, seeking precedents, sharing information as appropriate so that we as advisors are always advancing opportunities for our clients.
The purpose of this post? Respecting confidentiality, fiduciary and professional obligations, I’d like to put out there in the universe I’m open to talk with like minded people about ideas, concepts, structures, transactions, challenges, gaps and anything to help us all do the best we can for our clients. Lets sustain the momentum and energy from this conference to create precedents !!
Happy Sunday!
https://fnmpc.ca/