WHO HOLDS THE POWER? SIX MODELS OF INDIGENOUS PARTNERSHIP Indigenous participation in major projects takes several forms, and the differences determine who holds the power and where the money flows. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS: Broad agreements between communities and governments setting shared goals for jobs, training, procurement and revenue sharing. They establish relationships; they rarely transfer ownership. SUPPLY-CHAIN PARTNERSHIPS: Indigenous- owned businesses become preferred or guaranteed suppliers to a project — trucking, catering, environmental monitoring and construction. Often framed as capacity building, they leave ownership of the project itself untouched. IMPACT AND BENEFIT AGREEMENTS (IBA): Negotiated contracts between a project and a community, typically covering employment targets, revenue sharing, environmental commitments and cultural protections. Binding, but transactional: the community is a counterparty, not an owner. LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS (LP): Communities invest as limited partners, sharing in returns while a general partner runs the operation. Capital goes in; day-to-day control usually stays with the operator. JOINT VENTURES (JV): An Indigenous development corporation and an established firm create a jointly owned entity that shares risk, profit and decision-making. EQUITY STAKES AND OUTRIGHT OWNERSHIP: A community or development corporation buys into or buys out a project or company. At the top of the ladder sits the Arctic Gateway Group’s community ownership of the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway. Long-time Churchill resident David Daley, Board Chair of Indigenous Tourism Manitoba, remembers the Port from its heyday: "I've been here when the port was running in the '60s, '70s and '80s, where it was going 24 hours a day" Indigenous BUSINESS REPORT 29 NORTHERN SPOTLIGHT The communities already own the railway and port, and MCIC would build another layer onto that foundation where Indigenous governments participate as equity partners from the outset and help shape the next generation of Northern infrastructure rather than being consulted after the decisions are made. The province is developing the corporation along- side First Nations leadership, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Métis Federation, and Kinew has tied the proposal to what he describes as historic revenue-sharing opportunities for Northern communities. Since 2018, Ottawa has committed more than $320 million to the Churchill railway and port. Manitoba has separately committed $87.5 million, including $51 million last November, to continue restoring the railway toward Class 1 standards while expanding the port’s critical minerals infrastructure. The corporation is still taking shape, and that is partly by design. Legislation promised for spring 2026 has yet to pass, and MCIC operates for now under interim leadership. The debate around it is equally alive with the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, representing 32 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations, insisting the corporation must strengthen and not act as a substitute for the Crown’s duty to consult rights holders. Supporters such as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson echo the view that consultation must stay at the centre as energy proposals advance. That First Nations leadership is contesting the terms this early, rather than after the fact, may be the surest sign the model is being taken seriously. These questions matter because the province is attempting something genuinely new. Partnership is easy to promise. Building institutions that sustain it is considerably harder. Manitoba, for once, is trying to build the institution first. CHURCHILL’S PAST David Daley remembers when the harbour at Churchill was crowded. “I’ve been here when the port was running in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, where it was going 24 hours a day,” says the lifelong Churchill resident, dog-sledding outfitter, and board chair of Indigenous Tourism Manitoba.
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