Agenda

To launch the 9th Annual FNMPC Conference The Next Seven Generations, Our Shared Future, Enbridge will host the opening reception on Wednesday night, April 29th. This event will bring together First Nations, industry, and government delegates from across Canada and around the world.

Tickets sold separately.

Sponsored by First Nations Bank of Canada.

Room: Osgoode West

Geoff Gay, CEO, Athabasca Basin Development

Matt Smith, Vice President Government & Stakeholder Relations, Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership (KMLP)

Moderator: Bill Lomax (Gitxsan Nation), President & CEO, First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC)

Join a small group over lunch for a tightly focused session on building effective partnerships in Indigenous, community, and equity-participation settings. Practitioners, community representatives, and industry leaders will test what works, dissect what fails, and probe new ideas. Numbers are capped to keep discussion genuinely interactive, with lunch provided and early registration recommended. In 45 minutes, you will join a concentrated conversation shaped around the issues that matter most to you.

Across Canada, a growing number of First Nations–owned enterprises now hold more than $100 million in income-producing, non-trust assets, creating a new class of “Indigenous Unicorns” built under First Nations’ leadership rather than on Bay Street. Drawing on experience from capital markets, First Nations–owned corporations, and institutional investing, panelists will discuss how this growth has occurred, how ownership and governance can be structured to ensure Nations retain control and benefits, and how larger balance sheets—through acquisitions, infrastructure investment, and diversified portfolios—are reshaping First Nations’ roles in major projects and the broader Canadian economy.

Tickets sold separately.

Sponsored by Energy for a Secure Future and Canadian Gas Association

Room – Osgoode East.

Opening Remarks: Henry Liu, Embassy of Taiwan to Canada

Susanna Zagar, President and CEO, Canadian Gas Association

Crystal Smith (Haisla), ESF Fellow and Advisory Council Member, Federal Major Projects Office

Moderator: Shannon Joseph, Chair, Energy for a Secure Future

Join a small group over lunch for a tightly focused session on building effective partnerships in Indigenous, community, and equity-participation settings. Practitioners, community representatives, and industry leaders will test what works, dissect what fails, and probe new ideas. Numbers are capped to keep discussion genuinely interactive, with lunch provided and early registration recommended. In 45 minutes, you will join a concentrated conversation shaped around the issues that matter most to you.

Canada’s energy edge has long relied on abundant resources, dependable systems, and strong export capacity. That view is expanding. As economies become more data-driven, energy and data security are converging, reshaping how governments approach infrastructure and resilience. Canada’s cool climate and reliable power suit secure data hosting alongside vital natural-gas exports. For Indigenous nations, this creates openings as partners and hosts of critical assets. Realizing the promise will require clear policy, credible partnerships, and sustained investment. This panel weighs the risks and rewards of meeting rising global demand.

Her Majesty Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, Aotearoa New Zealand

Te Arikinui, the Māori Queen, is the eighth sovereign of the Kiingitanga, the Māori King Movement, and a prominent voice for Māori rights, culture, and self‑determination in Aotearoa New Zealand. Continuing a dynastic line that has defended mana motuhake (self-determination) and Māori lands and identity since 1858, she urges Māori to “walk a new path” toward economic independence and resist forces that undermine Māori initiatives. In her address, she will discuss intergenerational leadership, Crown–Indigenous relations, and Indigenous nation‑building in a shifting political landscape, offering lessons for Indigenous nations navigating their own futures.

Introduction: TBD

Sashen Guneratna, Managing Director, Investments, Canada Infrastructure Bank

Niru Thambirajah, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Managing Director, Project Finance, Infrastructure, Power & Utilities

Karen Augustine (Elsipogtog and Neqotkuk First Nations), Director of Economy Building, Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc.    

Crystal Nicholas (Potlotek First Nation), President & General Manager, Wskijnu’k Mtmo’taqnuow Agency

Moderator: Tiffany Murray (Six Nations, Mohawk Nation), Partner, Banking & Financial Services Group, BLG

Moderator: Danna Donald, Partner, Project Finance, Osler

Canada’s energy grid requires deliberate, coordinated investment. The Wasoqonatl project delivers exactly that: a 160 km, 354 kV intertie transmission line connecting Onslow, NS to Salisbury, NB— physically linking two provincial grids. Financed through an integrated partnership of private, public, and First Nations capital, this session examines how the transaction was structured, what it means for grid resilience and energy security, and why its Indigenous equity ownership model is attracting attention as a replicable framework for critical infrastructure investment across the country. This is a concrete example of communities participating as co-investors — not consultees — in nation-scale infrastructure.

His Majesty Kgosi (King) Leruo Tshekedi Molotlegi, King of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, South Africa

His Majesty Kgosi Leruo Tshekedi Molotlegi, King of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, will give a keynote on how to build lasting Indigenous wealth. The Royal Bafokeng, a Setswana-speaking Indigenous nation in South Africa, used pooled member earnings in the 19th century to buy back ancestral land and to secure title when most Black South Africans were barred from owning property. Later, platinum was found under that land; the Royal Bafokeng Nation asserted mineral rights, struck royalty and equity deals with miners, and created a R49b (C$4b) community-owned investment vehicle that now funds education, health, housing, and infrastructure — an example of turning land, law and resources into durable, intergenerational prosperity.

Stuart Chambers, Chair, Anglo American

Moderator: Mark Podlasly (Nlaka’pamux), CEO, FNMPC

Stuart is Chair of Anglo American, one of the world’s leading mining companies, offering a boardroom-level perspective on resource governance and strategic decision-making. His leadership spans multiple commodities and jurisdictions, placing him at the forefront of discussions on capital allocation, corporate accountability, and resource development. As Anglo American prepares to merge with Teck and expand its presence in Canada, Stuart’s insights are especially relevant amid sector-wide transformation. His session will address the realities facing major projects today—complexity, scrutiny, and rising stakeholder expectations—providing essential perspective for those shaping the future of resource development.

Rohitesh “Ro” Dhawan, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)

Moderator: Mark Podlasly (Nlaka’pamux), CEO, First Nations Major Projects Coalition

For many First Nations, “good mining” is about who decides what happens on our lands, how harm is managed, and whether projects leave lasting benefits. Rohitesh “Ro” Dhawan, President and CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals, leads a London-based coalition of 35 industry associations pushing the industry to centre Indigenous rights and participation.

This session gives the opportunity for First Nations participants to hear how ICMM’s new commitments on engagement, rights, benefit-sharing, and cultural heritage may play out—and gauge how far those commitments align with First Nations’ own expectations for future mining projects.

Introduction: Lesley Gallinger, IESO

Sagateh Williams (Curve Lake First Nation) Senior Advisor, External Relations, FNMPC

Canada’s critical‑minerals industry is already a major economic force, with even faster growth ahead. This panel presents the First Nations Major Projects Coalition’s (FNMPC) new report and sets out practical ways for First Nations to plug into the value chain, from exploration and extraction to processing, recycling, and owning infrastructure.

With roughly 55,000 critical‑minerals jobs, 430,000 mining jobs overall, C$117b in GDP and Indigenous workers now 11% of the upstream workforce as demand surges, the session offers First Nations a concise look at how to shift from participation to decision-making and ownership

Introduction by: Greg Orencsak, Deputy Minister, NRCan

Chief David Jimmie (Sto:lo Nation), President, Sto:lo Nation

Emily Black, Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Power, Enbridge

Kristan Straub (Henvey Inlet First Nation), President + CEO, Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation

Moderator: Trevor Gardner, Head, Global Investment Banking Coverage

This session examines Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance LP as a milestone in Indigenous ownership of critical energy infrastructure—and the first deal backed by the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation (CILGC). 38 First Nations in British Columbia acquired a 12.5% stake in Enbridge’s Westcoast gas pipeline for roughly C$725m, supported by a C$400m federal guarantee.

Panelists from the First Nations, Enbridge, and CILGC will explain how the deal was structured, how financing was secured, and, critically, how dozens of First Nations came together around a shared governance and benefits model.

Introduction: TBD

Luke Schauerte, CEO, Woodfibre LNG

Sxwíxwtn, Wilson Williams (Squamish), Council Chairperson, Squamish Nation

TBD

Moderator: Kimberly Lavoie (Qalipu First Nation), Assistant Deputy Minister, NRCan

When First Nations act as our own regulators on major energy projects, everyone gains—and projects tend to move faster with fewer surprises. Nations secure real decision‑making power and better protection of their lands and rights; companies and investors get clearer approval paths with fewer conflicts and court fights; governments advance UNDRIP and reconciliation; the public sees stronger environmental outcomes and more legitimate decisions.

This panel explores Indigenous‑led, consent‑based assessment processes in the context of LNG development and energy project permitting, and how this approach centres Indigenous law and knowledge, drives innovations such as electrification and lower‑carbon design, and streamlines the path from proposal to construction.

Introduction: TBD

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Moderator: Valerie Helbronner, Partner, Torys LLP

The wealth beneath Indigenous lands used to flow out and never come back. Not anymore. In Canada, First Nation and Métis communities now hold billion-dollar pipeline stakes and are developing bitumen on their own reserve lands. In Alaska, Native corporations operate the North Slope’s largest oilfield services companies and have distributed billions to their communities. In North Dakota, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation has generated over $1.5 billion from one of the continent’s largest shale oil deposits. The Navajo Nation runs its own tribally owned oil company, pipeline, and production fields. The tools, financing, and precedents are in place. This panel shows how Nations are using them to build lasting wealth.

Introduction: TBD

Dr. Sue von der Porten, Vice President of Clean Energy Strategy, FNMPC

Canada’s electricity grid must double or triple in capacity over the next two decades. Every major electricity transmission corridor runs through Indigenous traditional territory — making the question of who builds and owns that infrastructure inseparable from the broader work of reconciliation.

This session introduces FNMPC’s paper providing First Nations with an overview of Canada’s transmission networks and the ownership models currently being pursued across Turtle Island. Indigenous Nations are already playing a central role in transmission development. The paper examines those projects, outlines the relevance of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent to transmission planning, and offers an accessible introduction to the economic opportunities available to Nations through Indigenous-led, -owned, and -partnered electricity infrastructure.

Speaker: TBD

Tickets sold separately.

Sponsored by Export Development Canada (EDC)

Room – Osgoode West.

Introduction: TBD

Sean Willy (Denesuline First Nation), President & CEO, Des Nedhe Group

Booker Cornea, Associate Vice President Market & Shareholder Engagement, First Nations Bank of Canada

Jennifer Cooke, Director Small Business, Customer Care & Inclusive Trade, Export Development Canada

Moderator: Donna St Louis, National Lead, Indigenous Business | Inclusive Trade, Export Development Canada

Join a small group over lunch for a tightly focused session on building effective partnerships in Indigenous, community, and equity-participation settings. Practitioners, community representatives, and industry leaders will test what works, dissect what fails, and probe new ideas. Numbers are capped to keep discussion genuinely interactive, with lunch provided and early registration recommended. In 45 minutes, you will join a concentrated conversation shaped around the issues that matter most to you.

Indigenous participation is central to Canada’s future economic growth – whether in resource development, trade enabling infrastructure, or across the export supply chain. EDC’s Lunch & Learn will showcase the tools, financing solutions, and expertise we offer to support meaningful, long-term partnerships with the Indigenous business community that affect our shared economic and social future.

Tickets sold separately.

Sponsored by BHP.

Room – Osgoode East.

Opening Remarks: Caroline Cox, Chief Legal, Governance and External Affairs Officer, BHP

Jordan Montour (Mohawk – Kanienkeha:ka), Investment Advisor, Goldman Sachs (Boston)

Elsa Doxtdator-Jansson (Haudenosaunee), UBC Sauder School of Business

Caleb Adams (Wulli Wulli [Australia]), Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership

Moderator: Monique Fry (Xwchíyò:m First Nation), Manager Indigenous Strategy, Procon

Join a small group over lunch for a tightly focused session on building effective partnerships in Indigenous, community, and equity-participation settings. Practitioners, community representatives, and industry leaders will test what works, dissect what fails, and probe new ideas. Numbers are capped to keep discussion genuinely interactive, with lunch provided and early registration recommended. In 45 minutes, you will join a concentrated conversation shaped around the issues that matter most to you.

Indigenous young professionals are stepping into leadership across business, government, and civil society, grounded in both global experience and Indigenous traditions. Their perspectives- shaped by nationhood, stewardship, and lived experience- are influencing how institutions think and operate. This session explores how this rising cohort is reshaping industries, advancing institutional change, and applying Indigenous worldviews to decisions that affect our shared economic and social future.

John McKenzie, CEO, TMX Group

Introduction: TBD

Derrick Pattenden (Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation – Tyendinaga), CFA, CEO, Nations Royalty

Josh Kierce, CFO, Selkirk Mining

Morris Morrison (Selkirk First Nation), Manager, Community Relations, Selkirk Mining

Moderator: Christa Dewar, TSX

Keynote Remarks: John McKenzie, CEO, TMX Group

For First Nations wanting to know more about the process of taking a company public on the stock market, this session offers a step‑by‑step primer toward doing so in plain language.

Speakers from TMX Group and Nations Royalty, Canada’s first majority indigenous-owned public company, will launch a practical guide on how public markets work, the differences between private and public companies, how shares and equity function, and how both the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange can link Indigenous‑owned firms with investors. Speakers will also cover why some companies “go public”, what structures must be in place in order to do so, what changes for a company once they go public, and share existing examples of Indigenous ownership in public markets.

Introduction: TBD

Ernie Daniels (Salt River First Nation), President and CEO, First Nations Finance Authority

Gordon Keesic (Lac Seul First Nation), Portfolio Manager, VP and National Head, Indigenous Investment Services, RBC Global Asset Management

Doug MacDonald, CFA, Managing Director & Global Head of Distribution, CIBC Asset Management

Sue McNamara, CFA, SVP Fixed Income, Head of Responsible Investing, Beutel Goodman

Moderator: Clint Davis (Nunatsiavut Inuit) CEO, Cedar Leaf Capital Inc

This session explores how existing Indigenous wealth can be turned into direct ownership of projects on your lands. It looks at how more than C$120b in capital from settlements, trusts, and other sources can be mobilized through Indigenous bonds to buy equity or build revenue‑generating infrastructure, with investors repaid from stable cash flows.

Drawing on examples such as First Nations Financial Authority +C$4b bond issues, First Nation equity in a B.C. gas pipeline, and the first Indigenous bond from a major Canadian bank, it shows how an emerging Indigenous bond market can keep more value in Indigenous hands.

Introduction: TBC

Rukumoana Schaafhusen, Māori Queen’s delegation, TBC

Obakeng Phetwe, Bafokeng Nation, TBC

Tristan Jackson, CEO, Nikutik LP, North Shore Mi’kmaq Tribal Council

Moderator: Jon Davey (Haudenosaunee – Lower Cayuga of Six Nations of the Grand River), Managing Director, Indigenous + Government Advisory, Scotiabank

Indigenous‑led sovereign wealth funds—collective investment funds owned by a Nation and managed for the long term—can turn one‑off payments into steady financing for housing, water, education, health, and local businesses, so benefits outlast today’s agreements. Worldwide, such funds now manage on the order of US$13–15 trillion, showing what disciplined, long‑horizon investing can achieve.

This session outlines how Indigenous governments can channel resource revenues, settlements and project income into these funds to smooth revenue volatility, cut dependence on outside governments and firms, and build a permanent financial base.

Introduction: TBD

Mark Magnacca, Co-Founder, Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit

Blake Hutcheson, President & CEO, OMERS

Moderator: Robert Brant (Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation – Tyendinaga), Co-Founder, Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit

For First Nations pursuing large-scale projects, combining London’s global capital markets with strong Canadian financing tools creates more choice, sharper competition, and better terms, instead of relying on domestic sources alone.

The Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit in London, England is designed for Indigenous leaders ready to move from “interest in capital” to concrete transactions. Panelists will explain how Chiefs, councils, and Indigenous executives are beginning to engage directly with London based global investors, asset managers, and banks in one of the world’s leading financial centres.

The session will show how Indigenous-led projects in energy, mining, infrastructure, and clean tech can be framed, structured, and pitched to secure international partners and global capital.

Angel Ransom (Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation) Stewardship Technical Lead, Firelight

Moderator: TBD

As energy, critical minerals, and infrastructure projects are proposed on First Nations territories, Nations are demanding that major projects reflect who they are — not what others want to build. Too often, culture and community law are treated as obstacles to be managed rather than foundations to be respected.

This info session introduces the FNMPC Spirit of the Land Cultural Rights & Interests Toolkit: a practical framework for embedding free, prior, and informed consent into project design, building genuine partnerships with industry and government, embedding free, prior and informed consent, and building non-tokenistic partnerships—with youth involved as knowledge holders and future stewards.

Introduction: TBD

Craig West, CEO, Tainui Group Holdings (Aotearoa New Zealand)

Michael Spence, Mayor of Churchill and Arctic Gateway Group Board

Moderator: Mark Podlasly (Nlaka’pamux), CEO, First Nations Major Projects Coalition

Indigenous nations are no longer petitioners in infrastructure — they are owners, operators, and architects of world-class trade gateways. This session examines Waikato-Tainui’s Ruakura Superhub, a NZ$1 billion inland port in New Zealand; and Arctic Gateway Group’s Port of Churchill, Canada’s only Arctic deep-water seaport.

Executives from both projects will address what matters most to investors, Indigenous leaders, and policymakers: structuring Indigenous ownership in complex deals, attracting institutional capital, and making the business case when your community is both shareholder and neighbour.

The lesson is unambiguous: Indigenous-owned infrastructure, built on strong governance and long-term vision, is a national asset and a compelling investment.

Introduction: TBD

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Moderator: TBD

Canada’s Arctic is fast becoming a front line of great‑power rivalry as thinning ice, new sea routes, and critical minerals draw foreign military interest—often on Indigenous lands and waters.

This keynote, aimed at Indigenous leaders and northern partners, outlines how Russian and Chinese activity is reshaping security and how Canada is responding, with defence spending heading toward roughly 5% of GDP (C$160b/yr.) and tens of C$ billions earmarked for NORAD, Arctic surveillance, patrol ships, radar, and northern bases—and asks what this militarization could mean for Indigenous peoples.

Introduction: Brittanee Laverdure (Liard First Nation), Director, Truth and Reconciliation Office, RBC Origins

Thomas Benjoe (Muscowpetung First Nation), CEO, Flowing River Capital

Moderator: Chinyere Eni (Little Pine First Nation), Head, RBC Origins

Flowing River Capital, a Saskatchewan-based Indigenous-owned investment firm, was founded in 2024 with a straightforward proposition: that Indigenous communities should own assets, not merely participate in them. In January 2026, backed by financing from RBC, it acquired Marshall Land Systems — a 600-employee defence manufacturer turning over CAD $100 million a year — making it one of the most significant Indigenous-owned industrial acquisitions in Canadian history.

Marshall Land Systems supplies deployable military command centres, logistics platforms, and medical units to NATO militaries including Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. It now holds a CAD $350 million, 10-year contract with the Canadian Armed Forces.

In this session, Flowing River Capital and RBC will set out the mechanics of the deal and what it suggests about the broader potential for Indigenous communities to build long-term economic capacity — moving well beyond the transactional arrangements that have historically characterised Indigenous participation in Canadian business.

Introduction: TBD

Heather Bishop (Cold Lake First Nation), Cold Lake First Nations, Economic Development Director

Mark Brown (Pasqua First Nation), President, Pro Metal Industries Ltd.

Michael Peters (Glooscap First Nation), CEO Glooscap Ventures

Moderator: Sean Willy (Denesuline First Nation), CEO, Des Nedhe Group

Billions of dollars in new money will be invested in Canadian defence; the issue is whether the money simply changes hands, or better, entrenches First Nations jobs, firms, and institutions.

Aimed at First Nations that want procurement to serve their membership and businesses rather than distant contractors, this panel examines how the military procurement system really works: setting requirements, issuing tenders, scoring bids, and managing contracts. It will show how rights recognition, the duty to consult, and benefit‑sharing can both secure preferred‑partner status and map concrete steps—pre‑qualification, joint ventures, set‑aside schemes—to turn defence budgets into durable local capacity and economic development.