Indigenous-owned infrastructure vital to country’s trade markets

Business leaders worldwide have been spending a good chunk of time thinking about their trade positions since American President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump’s constant tariff talks have caused many to rethink how to respond.

At a recent conference in Toronto, one of the sessions focused on how Indigenous ownership in port, rail and transportation facilities is vital to the country’s ability to service world markets.

The session, held April 28 at the First Nations Majors Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference, was titled Indigenous Leadership in Canada’s Port and Export Infrastructure. The two panelists for the session were Chris Avery and James Berube.  Avery is the CEO of the Arctic Gateway Group, which owns and operates the Port of Churchill and Manitoba’s Hudson Bay Railway. Berube is the general manager and COO of Quebec’s Tshiuetin Rail Transportation. Hillary Thatcher, the managing director of investments for the Canada Infrastructure Bank, moderated the session.

Avery explained that the Arctic Gateway Group is owned by 41 First Nations and primarily Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba. It runs the Port of Churchill, the only deep-water seaport in North America connected by land.

“What we provide is direct access for the vast resources in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta,” Avery said. “We provide direct access for those vast resources. And if you can imagine the shipping lanes going out towards the east, to the Atlantic Ocean to the global markets in Europe, Middle East, Africa and even South America.”

Avery said it’s a huge advantage to Canada to be able to provide access to global markets.

“We were saying all this well before Donald Trump was elected president,” Avery said. “And certainly, everything we've been saying now is resonating much, much more now that President Trump has taken office and started up talks about tariff wars, trade wars and annexation of Canada.”

Berube said Tsihuetin Rail, created in 2005, is the first completely Indigenous owned, managed and operated railway in North America.

It operates both passenger and freight service.

“It's a serious industry and we're proud to show North America and the nation that we're capable of doing this stuff,” Berube said.

Avery provided session attendees with some historical information, including that the Hudson Bay Railway was originally owned by CN and later sold to American interests, who did quite well for a while but neglected the infrastructure of the railway in later years.

Avery said some people don’t realize the Port of Churchill is still operating.

“We're very much open for business,” Avery said. “The railway is in great condition, better condition than it’s been for over 25 years. The port is open for business and we're investing more capital into the port.

“But this infrastructure had been neglected for decades. And it's critical for us in Canada to have this infrastructure as options to the other ports in Canada and optionality for us in Canada.”

Berube said Tshiuetin Rail took over from a previous railway.

“There were a lot of doubters, a lot of people didn't think it would happen,” he said of the company. “And they gave us a couple months when the company started in 2005. But today we're here, 20 years later.”

Berube said the railway wasn’t in ideal condition when Tshiuetin Rail took over.

“There was a lot of investment that was needed from the federal government,” he said. “Through our subsidies we basically rebuilt our railway.”

Avery was asked how Arctic Gateway Group aligns the interests of its various shareholders.

He said many of those from the ownership communities have their families living where the group’s infrastructure is located.

“So, to continue to invest back in the infrastructure and not neglect it and let it get to a point where it's not usable anymore, it's just not in the cards,” he said.

There are benefits to having communities owning trade infrastructure, Avery said.

“Looking forward, there will be more weather events, there will be more forest fires and there will be more labour disputes,” he said. “So, having a port for a country the size of Canada with the seaboard that we have in our northern infrastructure just makes a ton of sense.”

And he believes the country needs to diversify its trade, especially with various threats coming from Trump.

“Part of diversifying our trade could be through the Port of Churchill,” Avery said.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.