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UPDATED: June 26, 6:55 p.m. (EDT)
Indigenous peoples, it’s time to bring your best ideas forward. It’s time to lead with your vision, and in partnership.
That was the Call to Action from Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson in his speech June 25 to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
He told the leaders and champions in Canada’s largest economic region that if the country is serious about retooling its economy in the face of tariff threats from United States President Donald Trump, economic reconciliation with Indigenous nations must be put front and centre.
“Indigenous peoples are not just participants in our economy. They are rights holders. They are the original stewards of the land…. They are builders,” he said.
Before running successfully as a Liberal in this year’s federal election in the Ontario riding of Markham—Thornhill, Hodgson served as chair of Hydro One, which operates more than 95 per cent of the high voltage electrical transmission grid in the province.
During his time on the board, he said, Hydro One worked closely with Indigenous communities to build electricity transmission infrastructure that delivered power, created jobs and built long-term prosperity in Ontario.
“I’ve seen what true partnership looks like and how successful it can be for a project and for First Nations,” said Hodgson.
Last year, Hydro One built the Chatham to Lakeshore line under its new Indigenous equity partnership model, which came in a year ahead of schedule and 15 per cent below budget, Hodgson said.
“Those amazing results occurred because of a strong consultation” with, and significant equity ownership by, First Nations, he said.
It’s time to transform how “we” think about Indigenous involvement in major projects, Hodgson concluded from the experience.
“Done the right way, First Nations involvement accelerates these projects. It does not slow them down.”
The minister said this approach should stand as a model for how Canada can build major infrastructure projects going forward.
“And it’s not an isolated case. It’s an emerging norm and it’s a norm that this government is committed to accelerating,” he said.
“By recognizing First Nations as key enablers, and by listening and engaging and building meaningful relationships rooted in trust and shared benefits, projects in this province and beyond can move forward on schedule, on budget, in a way that delivers real benefits to communities.”
Indigenous equity means that revenue stays in the communities and can be passed down to the next generation, he said. It means generational transformation and how major projects can get done.
Hodgson is said to be among the four or five people closest to Prime Minister Mark Carney and holds considerable ability to influence “this government.” Others include former Hydro‑Québec CEO Michael Sabia, who Carney appointed Clerk of the Privy Council, the country’s top bureaucrat, Marc-André Blanchard, lawyer and former United Nations representative for Canada, chosen as Carney’s chief of staff, and former Justice minister and attorney general David Lametti, appointed Principal Secretary, the most senior political aide to the PM.
Carney and the Liberals were elected in April to keep Canada from veering into the economic ditch with a mandate to combat the instability and new world order Trump has ushered in since taking office in January.
To offset trade loss to the United States, Carney promised to remove internal barriers to the free movement of goods, services and labour across the provinces and territories, and to build big, bold, expedited national interest projects to unleash economic growth by speeding up approvals.
The government’s One Canadian Economy Act, Bill C-5, which passed in the House of Commons June 20, in the Senate June 26, and received Royal Assent the same day, is intended to achieve those goals.
Hodgson describes C-5 as a “nation-defining piece of legislation.” It will allow Canada to build faster, move people and goods more freely while unlocking the potential for Canadian workers, communities, and resources across the country, he said. It will reduce regulatory efforts, delayed decisions, and bottlenecks between jurisdictions.
A major projects office will coordinate and expedite reviews focused on how projects will be built, “as opposed to whether it will be built,” said Hodgson. A one-stop shop for keeping projects on track.
An “integral component” of this office will be an Indigenous Advisory Council, he said. The council, consultation with Indigenous peoples and rigorous environmental reviews “will inform a single set of binding federal conditions on projects of national interest.
“It will create the conditions to get more projects off the ground, projects that benefit our national interest.”
Indigenous leadership organizations, including the Assembly of First Nations and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, pushed back against the rush to drive Bill C-5 into law, noting the lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples that is Canada’s legal obligation.
Not to worry, the prime minister has communicated.
“To continue to put Indigenous people at the centre of nation building initiatives,” the “first thing we will do in launching the implementation of this legislation is full-day summits” each with First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights holders, starting with First Nations on July 17, Hodgson told the board of trade.
“The goal here is to create certainty that catalyzes investment,” by reducing inefficiencies, harmonizing standards and improving transparency, he said.
“We find ourselves in the middle of the most devastating trade war of our lifetimes… Who knows where Mr. Trump is taking us next… This is a trade war we did not ask for, but it is a trade war we must win,” Hodgson said.
“This moment is creating opportunities that we can seize,” he said. But it will take speed, ambition and, most importantly, unity, with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, industry, small business and entrepreneurs standing side by side.
Hodgson is the descendant of a family of tenant farmers from northern England who immigrated to Ontario after the Second World War, starting life over on a small farm near Peterborough, he said.
His father pursued a career in the Canadian Air Force, so Tim “grew up an air force brat,” relocating every year or two across Canada.
Out of high school at age 17, Hodgson also joined the Canadian Armed Forces while studying at the University of Manitoba. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and would go on to work in finance before furthering his education and earning a Master of Business Administration degree.
His success took him to positions in New York, London and Silicon Valley in California. He worked most of his professional life in the private sector, where he said he learned a lot about the energy and resource industries “that are, by many metrics, the most significant economic engines in this country.” He helped finance potash mines, did initial public offerings for utilities and uranium companies. He worked on pipelines.
He said those experiences have shaped him and taught him this:
“Leadership is not about talk. It’s about action when it matters most. It’s about getting things done and getting them done right. It’s about building for the next generation. Or, as Indigenous peoples teach us, the next seven generations and being proud of what we are handing them.”
Hodgson would go on to become the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Canada, working with Carney there. And in 2010, Hodgson would join the Bank of Canada as special advisor to then Bank of Canada governor Carney. Hodgson was also on the board of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, where he was vice-chair of the investment committee before stepping away to stand for election.
A part of Canada’s response to the U.S. trade war is its potential to become an energy and natural resources superpower, Carney has stated, with the possible expansion of conventional (read pipelines), nuclear and green renewable energies and the extraction of critical minerals to be among the national interest projects explored.
“It’s about building the kind of Canada where a rising tide lifts all boats.” Hodgson said, then quoted Premier Wab Kinew of Manitoba.
“He said, ‘this is a generational opportunity for Canadians, but also for some of the poorest communities in our country. If we could put the roads, transmission and pipe infrastructure in place to build out those opportunities, this country won’t just be better off in terms of GDP growth, we’ll be better off in making sure every Canadian kid can reach their full potential’.”
Kids in the north or rural Canada will get the same opportunities as a kid in Canada’s biggest cities. That’s what becoming an energy superpower is all about, said Hodgson.
“Becoming an energy and resource superpower needs to benefit everyone,” he said.
“We did not ask for this trade war to be declared on us. But we are responding with purpose and finding solutions that will leave us better off in four years and, hopefully, in four decades,” Hodgson said. “… We did not ask for disrupted supply chains, but we are rebuilding them with resilience and creating jobs in the process.”
He said the One Canadian Economy Act is not the end, but the beginning.
“It’s time for ambition. It’s time to be a real conventional and clean energy superpower. It’s time to build and we’re going to do it together.”
To watch the minister’s full speech, go to https://youtu.be/Q5lV6ogEgwM?si=LQ38OC-oD_klg3CC