My name is Glen Whelan. I'm the Director of Communications at Enbridge, and I'm also the MC and moderator for today's press conference. First, I'd like to acknowledge that we're here today on Treaty 6 territory and the homeland of the Métis. We have several speakers this morning to discuss this exciting partnership. For those in attendance, you'll find short bios of our speakers in the media kit that we provided. I'll start with a quick introduction of all our speakers, and then we'll hand it off to them to begin. I'll start with our Indigenous partners. We have Chief Greg Desjarlais of Frog Lake First Nation, Stan Delorme, Chairperson of Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, and Justin Bourque, President of Athabasca Indigenous Investments.
From the Government of Alberta, we have the Honorable Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta, and the Honorable Rick Wilson, Indigenous Relations Minister, sitting at the front. From the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, CEO Chana Martineau. Finally, from Enbridge, we have Colin Gruending, Executive Vice President and President of Liquids Pipelines, and our President and Chief Executive Officer, Al Monaco. Following the speakers, we'll take some questions and wrap up with a brief photo opportunity. First I would like to welcome the Honorable Premier Kenney to the podium. Premier Kenney.
Thank you, chiefs and leaders of Métis communities for welcoming us to traditional Treaty 6 territory . Thank you for doing so during National Truth and Reconciliation Week. I have been in public life for 25 years, and I've had the privilege of serving as Alberta's Premier for the past 3.5 years. In that time, I have made hundreds of announcements. Today is easily one of the most exciting and consequential. This is an historic day for Alberta, for Canada, for reconciliation, for Indigenous people, for our economic future.
Today, this partnership that we are announcing between Enbridge and a group of 23 Indigenous communities with the support of Alberta's government is an historic game changing deal that shows the way to the future of shared prosperity, of being partners in prosperity, of moving from the talk of reconciliation to the real progress of reconcili-action. Today, we are achieving the dream and the vision that this government set before Albertans in the last provincial election to put the faith and credit of the Alberta Crown behind First Nations who want to be full partners in prosperity, in the responsible development of the resources that lie below the lands that their ancestors first inhabited. Indigenous people, of course, have since time immemorial been the responsible stewards of and harvesters of the natural resources of these lands.
For too long, their people have not been able fully to benefit from the enormous economic wealth created by Alberta's oil and gas industry and our natural resource sector more broadly. That is why we ran on a commitment to create the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation to help First Nations that sometimes don't have strong balance sheets, don't have experience in making complex financial transactions, and too often have been left out of prosperity and opportunity to help them get a real ownership stake in the development, and shipment, sale, and the entire industry of our natural resources. The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was created in 2019 by a statute of the Alberta Legislature.
Its mandate is to provide that financial backstop as well as advisory services to First Nations indigenous communities who want to partner with resource and other companies. Now, initially, its mandate was limited to natural resource development, but last year we expanded the mandate to include agriculture, telecommunications, and other sectors to ensure that our indigenous communities can benefit from the full range of opportunities in Alberta's booming economy and a diversified economic future. Today, we have hit with this deal the motherlode. Up until now, we have funded CAD 200 million in backstop for projects, including CAD 93 million for an equity stake in the Cascade Power Project near Hinton, with six First Nations participating, a CAD 27 million guarantee to the Frog Lake First Nation so they could maintain ownership of their SAGD bitumen operation.
A CAD 40 million loan guarantee to 8 Indigenous communities involved in the Astisiy Limited Partnership to buy the Northern Courier Pipeline System. Today is the big one, the game changer I've been waiting so patiently for 3.5 years. With the brilliant leadership of Enbridge under the presidency of Al Monaco, to reach out to 23 Indigenous communities in central and northern Alberta with the idea of taking an equity stake of 11.5% in a network of seven wealth producing pipelines that have been generating good returns for shareholders. For many years. This is not a bet on a future project. This is not a faint hope of future returns.
It is with the signing of the agreement here today, with the debt that is being raised in the markets, with by Enbridge right now, with the backstop of the Alberta government, this is a CAD 1.1 billion deal with a CAD quarter of a billion dollar backstop from the Government of Alberta making this possible that will be generating significant revenue in the long term. Revenue that these First Nations and Métis communities can literally bank on. That, yes, they can use to improve education and social services for their people, but they can also invest in other income-generating economic opportunities and investments, becoming full partners in our economy. This is a big deal.
This is the single largest Indigenous transaction in the natural resource sector in the history of North America, and I think it may well be in world history. I don't know of one that exceeds this. This is Alberta, this is Enbridge, this is these First Nations showing the way to the future. On Friday, we will remember many of the the sad injustices that Indigenous people in these lands have experienced in past generations. We will all rededicate ourselves as Canadians to the ongoing work of reconciliation. As long as Indigenous people live in poverty and do not benefit fully from the great richness of this land, we will not achieve the dream of reconciliation.
It is through practical, concrete measures like the deal being signed today that we can, I believe, show real hope to people for a very bright future. I want to say thank you to Al Monaco and his team at Enbridge. Thank you to the entire team at the Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. Thank you to Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson for his stubbornness and vision, and to his deputy minister, but most importantly, thank you to the First Nations and Métis communities who have embraced this vision. Because we know that there's always a debate in the different communities about resource development participation. The 23 leaders who have signed this agreement have shown vision and true leadership in the best interests of their people and in the true spirit of reconciliation.
I'm so proud of all of you. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing the long-term benefits of this that will roll out not just on this deal, but I think this becomes a new benchmark. To the AIOC, keep getting her done. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. I now call on Al Monaco.
Thank you. Thanks, Premier, and I'll come back to some comments for you later. First of all, let me say that there is no place I'd rather be than here today in front of you with friends and with new partners. The Premier mentioned a long history of making announcements. This for sure is one of our proudest moments as well. Our company goes back over 100 years, and this is gonna stack right up there. A decade ago, we at Enbridge embarked on a mission to lead on Indigenous engagement with an approach that focuses on listening carefully to what we're hearing, respecting Indigenous culture and their deep connection to the water and land, and making projects better based on their advice to us. Who knows the environment better than Indigenous groups?
We take advantage of that. This approach has been ingrained in the company now, and it's part of our values. Today, we are announcing this project that really illustrates that. By the way, the code name for this project is Rocket, in case you're interested in the internal.
Sign off.
Yeah, sign off. I won't get into how we set these project names, but I'll let you guess. Over time, we've shifted, and I would say accelerated our approach here from one that was pretty much around the basics. Everybody's heard about consultation and accommodation and the regulatory standards that prevail. We ramped it up. We then focused on environmental stewardship and then on to economic benefits. Everybody knows what that is, jobs, procurement opportunities. Now we're at the top level, economic ownership. We believe that the model that we've rolled out today is gonna be part of the future of energy infrastructure development. We wanna become partners with Indigenous communities across the entire system. Sounds like a big objective, a big target. It is. On both sides of the border. What you see here today is not just a transaction.
There's a lot of financial complexity to it, but really, it's the beginning of a partnership and a deepening of the relationship that I think is gonna be absolutely vital to what we do in the future, which is essentially delivering the energy that people want and need every day in North America, and it's part of a pattern you've seen from us. Line 3 Replacement, this is the biggest project that we've done in the company's history, totaling CAD 10 billion. We had opportunities for Indigenous groups of CAD 1 billion or 10 or roughly 10% of the project. We forged new partnerships just like that in other locations as well. East-West Tie Transmission Line in Ontario and the Wabamun Carbon Hub that we talked about last year for the first time, near Edmonton is going to be co-owned by Indigenous partners.
Now, turn your eyes to the map over there, and you'll see that all of the locations or the circles there describe the locations of the Indigenous groups that are participating. I would say this map or this page, if you will, really exemplifies what can happen when people collaborate and come together. Yes, it's a page of pipelines, but really what it illustrates is that we're on the same page with our Indigenous partners. As the Premier said, the largest such partnership in North America. Here's why I think this partnership is really important. Our business, when you really get down to it, involves trust and engaging hundreds of nations, tribes, communities across North America. Many have been very keen on the Indigenous side to participate in building economic prosperity and economic sovereignty for our people.
They wanna be partners in the energy transition that everybody talks about through the full cycle of energy asset, not just when we need to build a project, but from start to the end of the asset life. We think our relationship with Indigenous people can be a big part of reconciliation in this country. I like what Chief Desjarlais said earlier. It's reconciliation, but this is reconcili-action. We're actually doing something to ensure that we foster reconciliation in this country. We reached another milestone in the journey last week. We released our first Indigenous reconciliation action plan, and we're very proud of that. This partnership is not just going to be a one-off. This is a great opportunity in front of us for industry, our province, to change how we look at Indigenous relationships, not just in the province, but in the country.
That's gonna require a big commitment, more commitment from industry and of course, government. I do wanna acknowledge the Alberta government's leadership role here under the leadership of Premier Kenney in seeding the ground for this historic partnership that we're celebrating today. This would not have been possible had it not been for that foresight and vision. Mr. Premier, with the support you provided, I just wanna give a big thank you. For what you've done in terms of supporting reconciliation in this country, this is good for Alberta, but it is also an important part of what we need to do in Canada going forward. Finally, the big question is. How can we take this to the new level and unlock the true energy potential in Canada? What else can we do to really accelerate Indigenous economic participation in the energy transition?
Well, it's pretty clear. For one thing, we need to improve investment certainty in the pace of permitting in this country. We need to have incentives to support new and traditional forms of energy. I will say, other governments may be thinking they need to follow the lead on what the province has done here, not just in Canada, but in various states in the United States. If we can get this right going forward, then we have a lifetime of opportunity here. What does that mean? Like what? Partnering on renewables and carbon capture with Indigenous groups, natural gas and hydrogen. To partner with LNG to unlock the massive potential we have in this country, not just to monetize resources, but to share the emissions reductions capability of our own natural gas globally.
Industry is ready to lead the way here with new partnerships and the willingness on Indigenous partners that are waiting in the wings. Most of all, I wanna sincerely thank and congratulate Athabasca Indigenous Investments, so Justin Bourque. All of us at Enbridge are really honored to be here today and excited about what will be a long-lasting and respectful and mutually beneficial relationship. Now I'm gonna ask Colin Gruending to come up to tell you a little bit about the recipe that came about. Colin?
Thanks, Al, and good morning, everyone. I am honored to co-represent Enbridge on this special day. It's an exciting day for all of us, and I know the team can't all fit in this room, but I think everybody's pretty excited and proud to be part of this. As has been said, we announced a CAD 1.1 billion acquisition by Athabasca Indigenous Investments for roughly 11.6% stake in seven of our pipelines that, you know, form a pretty important part of the business I run at Enbridge. By name, the pipelines, and I'll mention them 'cause they're all significant in their own right. The Athabasca Pipeline, the Athabasca Pipeline Twin, the Norlite Diluent Pipeline, the Wapisiw Pipeline , the Wood Buffalo Pipeline, and finally, the Woodland Pipeline and the Woodland Pipeline Extension. They're all on the map.
I remember being parts of teams over the last 20 years that secured this business and then built them one at a time. They are connected to more oil sands projects than any other system in the region. Collectively, they transport about 45% of Canada's oil sands production under contract to key export hubs in Edmonton and Hardisty, and then on to North America, contributing to energy security. Aren't we all blessed to have that here? To be clear, the Canadian oil sands and our pipelines in this region remain of immense strategic importance to me and my business and to Enbridge. The oil sands, as everyone in this room knows, is a vast resource that will thankfully support decades upon decades of production and stable income generation.
Your first question is probably why would Enbridge even part with a portion of these important assets? Well, first, it supports our strategy of recycling capital from existing businesses to invest in other parts of energy transition. Al talked about many of them, dual-pronged, conventional and new energies in support of a gradual energy transition. Secondly, it gives us a rich opportunity to strengthen relationships with Indigenous communities in Northern Alberta. We also gain and partner with communities who have a knowledge of the land, water, environmental stewardship that we value at Enbridge. Now, a little insight into how the partnership came to be. I boil it down to three key catalysts that align to make our path clear.
The first, as Al said, we were engaging in different sorts of relationships with different communities across the continent through what we call a full lifecycle approach from design, construction through abandonment. This approach was rapidly evolving. Second, as Al mentioned, we were beginning to think about how we could get to the next level and look at economic co-investment. Where in that North American map would we start, and it made a lot of intuitive sense for us to start right here in our backyard in Alberta. Finally, we became aware of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
It was really the final piece, kind of the missing link here, which has been mentioned as a creative mechanism to backstop First Nations and Métis communities to gain the financial backing needed to invest in bigger projects like this. That's how we came here. Even with that clarity, there were still a bunch of practical questions we needed to answer. You know, the first was it feasible to extend an offer to so many nations, 23 nations, unprecedented? How would that be done? How do we structure it? Could we, dealing with so many partners, any group of 23, how could we do this in a timely manner? I don't think we perfected it, but we tried our best. In formulating our approach, we relied on two principles.
The first was inclusion, and that helped us answer a number of the questions. We're grateful that all 23 invitations extended were accepted. It was important to us to involve all 23 in the region because all 23 are important to us. The second principle was basically to be responsive and we tweaked our investment proposal with feedback along the way. Yes, there were questions along the way from communities, many questions throughout the process. Due diligence, many questions. Through strong collaboration and a sense of purpose, and the old adage, where there's a will, there's a way, we came to agreement. The other fun fact here is that we did this in about six months, which is a testament to the hard work invested by everyone up here and outside this room.
I wanna extend my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their hearts and minds to this. We are celebrating today, but the work continues. These are long-lived energy infrastructure assets, and with that goes our lifelong commitments to these relationships. With that, I'll ask Chief Desjarlais to say a few words. Thank you.
I said that I'm thankful to the Creator for allowing me to get up today. I shake hands with each and every one of you. I just wanna say thank you for the introduction and for the opportunity for me to provide some comments. You know, today is truly a significant day for the First Nations and Métis communities in the Athabasca region. You know, it's a day that brings me great pride because it's the day that marks the beginning of a new path for our people. You know, for too many years, First Nations and Métis communities, you know, like what was shared, you know, we didn't have the ability or the seed capital to get involved in these projects.
You know, for too long, you know, Métis settlements and the First Nations fought over small projects like brushing that were maybe a month, two or three months long. That you cannot sustain your nation at all. You know, you cannot build homes with that. You know, today is an important day for us as we move forward in the partnership, in the relationship, you know. I too wanna thank the government of Alberta, you know, and the leadership, you know, and for coming up with this idea to support First Nations. You know, I wear my treaty uniform today because we had signed a treaty, you know. The treaty was a peace treaty to live amongst and coexist with the foreign people who came to this land.
You know, I wanna thank the AIOC. You know, I wanna thank them for backstopping the First Nations because I always say First Nations, we're the problem. We're part of the solution here in this country. You know, this investment, it creates opportunities. It's gonna allow us to send our kids to school. It's gonna allow us to send our people to treatment. You know, it's gonna allow us to deal with the mental crisis that we have in our communities, the anxiety of the young people. It's gonna allow us to improve the quality of life. It's gonna allow us to build homes. You know, I support economic sovereignty. I also live off the land. Many of us First Nations gather medicines, berries. We hunt and fish and trap.
You know, we always had an economy, but somewhere along the line we were excluded. You know, today's investment means that we have a very important seat at the table, and the seat cannot be ignored or overlooked. You know, and another big thank you is to Enbridge. You know, the question was asked why, but I wanna say you're gonna impact the lives of the children that are yet to come, the unborn. Of our elderly people that need their power and gas paid that maybe did not pay into a pension plan. That you're going to house people in new homes and have roads graded, and maybe one day have services where we can all enjoy water by turning on a tap instead of it having to be delivered by a truck every few days.
You know, it's also very significant that the investment is being made collectively by 23 Indigenous communities that are most directly impacted by the development in the Athabasca region. You know, I too, I believe that we're stronger in numbers, but we're also stronger as many nationalities, non-Indigenous, you know, the Métis, the First Nations people. You know, because under the Creator's eye, we are all one. We're all His children. Even all of us in this room, we're all His children. This is what the elders prophesied, that we must work together, and we must care for one another. You know, when we put the collective values first, you know, this is the outcome of something beautiful. You know, you look at the seven teachings, you know, that we must keep in front of us.
You know, this group was guided by truth, respect, bravery, honesty, wisdom and love, and most of all, the humility of one another. You know, I'm just grateful for today. You know, as the Chief of Frog Lake, you know, I serve my people. I have to have the foresight, like many of our leaders do, to look beyond the generations that are yet to come. This deal, you know, is the benchmark. I too hope industry and the other levels of government are paying attention because you know what? Our people should not live in poverty of the land of milk and honey. You know, our milk has gone sour somewhere. We need to get back to working together, you know, providing the basics, the necessities of water, housing.
You know, if it wasn't for a deal like this. Just for example, Frog Lake gets CAD 234,000 from the federal government for housing. Now everybody knows why we struggle with mold, overcrowding. You know, it's because, you know what? These agreements we're supposed to run our nations on are outdated 50 years. We're 50 years behind. I also wanna thank Enbridge. I've been involved and at the table for 10 years now since I've been in leadership. I wanna say, you know, hats off to Sam, to Kim. Me and Kim would talk about. I would jokingly say, you know, that meter running there in your boardroom in Calgary, you know, how do we get involved in that? This is truly from the discussions that we have talked about, because I'm a realist.
I'm a guy that will go out of my comfort zone. I'm a chief that will try and bring economic sovereignty, hope to our people, that we could, you know, remove addiction from reserves, remove homelessness, remove suicide. That our kids can enjoy a fresh 10 by 12 room with fresh paint as well one day. To Enbridge, from our heart, the First Nations, you know, and also our Métis brothers for walking along with you and for believing that something good can happen together. You know, we wish nothing but good things for our partnership today. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Chief Desjarlais. Now I'll call upon Chairperson Stan Delorme of the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement.
Thank you very much. Is it good morning or is it good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen?
Good day.
Well, it is a good day. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Premier. First of all, I stand before you here today as a very proud Métis person from the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement. I am also glad on the Métis settlements having trust in me to represent the four eastern Métis settlements here today and being involved with this honorable process that we're going through, and we've come through. I'd also tip my hat to the negotiating team. A bunch of young guys, obviously eager, you know, to get things done. Unfortunately, time didn't permit me to spend as much time as I needed to with that group.
Things rolled along as far as the discussions and the negotiations are concerned. Like I said, I stand before you here today to say to the Premier, thank you very much, Premier, for introducing the AIOC. Minister Wilson, thank you very much for harping and to you know the way that you have with the AIOC, and I know we had several meetings and discussion economic development and AIOC always came up. As well as Enbridge, thank you for bringing this forward to the 23 communities. Hopefully, the other industry players are paying attention at this point in time. I think you've set the bar.
You've set the bar high enough so that, no one can deny it. Thanks to the AIOC, appreciate your input, appreciate your help, and appreciate you working along with the, 23 communities that have come before you. I think for us, this is, not only a historical day, but as well as a, beneficial deal for the four eastern settlements. You know, I don't say that lightly. I say that because the funding is needed like any other community on, the needs that, you know, that are, you know, that are there, with in all areas, education, health, even housing, you name it.
We're, you know, definitely not exempt from any of those issues that are, you know, that prevail elsewhere. I also like to say thanks for my council for the support that they've given myself and being involved with this process. I think we can definitely tip our hats to the other leadership as well from the other settlements. With that, we definitely have come through a lot of hurdles with our strive to not only maintain what we currently have, but as well as looking at the economic development part of it in our communities. This is definitely a major help towards that.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for being out here today.
Thank you, Chairperson Delorme. Now I'd like to call upon Chana Martineau, CEO of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
Thank you. I'm one of the few people under six feet tall here today. Hello, everyone, and thank you for the warm welcome, Stan. What a truly historic and monumental day for all of the parties involved. I think you can all just feel the emotion in the room. On behalf of everyone at AIOC, I wanna first extend our sincerest congratulations to all 23 Indigenous and Métis communities, the team at Athabasca Indigenous Investments, and everyone at Enbridge on this precedent-setting announcement. Congratulations.
I do wanna take a pause here and just thank the vision of Premier Kenney and Minister Wilson and many of the others here for creating the organization that the AIOC is the vehicle that has enabled these communities to participate at this level in this transaction. When the AIOC was created in 2019, major capital projects like the one announced today are exactly what was envisioned for our corporation to support. Large-scale, capital-intensive, collaborative projects that have the ability to become major revenue drivers for Indigenous communities in Alberta. These communities may not otherwise been able to access the kind of capital required to facilitate equity share ownership in projects of this size and magnitude.
In our almost three years of operations, AIOC has continuously championed Indigenous prosperity and the impacts that these kinds of projects can bring to industry partners, Indigenous communities, and Métis settlements across the province. This benefits all Albertans. It is days like today that remind us and reinforce the why behind what we do at AIOC, to create generational change, to bring real economic prosperity to Indigenous and Métis communities across the province to benefit all Albertans. We know that this province is better when everyone has a seat at the table, and we hope that today is seen as another step in the right direction along the road to reconciliation. I think now fondly called in Alberta reconcili-action. We will continue to support, uplift, and champion the Indigenous and Métis communities across this fine province.
It is now my distinct pleasure to welcome Justin Bourque, CEO of Willow Lake Métis Nation and President of Athabasca Indigenous Investments, to the podium.
Thank you very much, Chana, and don't worry, I'm the other person here that's under six foot, so you're not alone. Start off, I wanna thank the media for your time here today and coming to join us on this monumental day. Also like to thank my partners today in sharing their words, Premier Kenney, again, very honored to be able to share a podium with you and to be able to speak at the same venue. It is likewise, as Al and Premier have shared, the most biggest moment of my career as well to be able to bring this forward, so thank you. Truly historic day today as we announce this landmark partnership between 23 Indigenous communities and Enbridge.
It's also historic because 23 communities have come together and built a new partnership and a new entity called the Athabasca Indigenous Investments, which is the partnership built with inclusion and impact at the forefront and leads the way for financial sovereignty for our people, and it sets the stage for future investment opportunities. Our communities are unique and diverse in nature, yet share in aspects of beliefs, values, and cultures. We have shared these traditional lands for generations. Communities geographically separated are now connected, literally connected by the physical pipes in the ground which intersects our communities' traditional lands, and the connection that this partnership provides us all a way forward. Environmental policy and stewardship is driving towards decarbonization across all industries. The growing concern of climate change has had on global resource security and future forecasts, a sobering reality of the changing world as we know it.
For me, our way forward is more just that, more than just the capital E in ESG. While society waits for government and industry to make the adjustments necessary to ensure sustainability, there is an urgent need to localize economies, empower adaptation to communities, resilience, and do what we can with inclusive focus on the S and the G of the ESG. I believe that this partnership shows exactly that. In industry, there are arguments that the E is tangible, while S and G can somewhat be hard to quantify. After today, my friends, experts will turn to our partnership and example of what the tangible results the S and the G can provide. Our partnership provides Indigenous peoples throughout Athabasca region, a direct ownership stake that sets the stage for accountable stewardship, forging our new future together.
Make no mistake, none of this would have been possible today had it not been for the strong corporate governance of Enbridge. Their desire for partnership can be seen through the many enhancements necessary to bring 23 Indigenous communities to a transaction such as this, and I congratulate them on achieving their goal of partnering with 23 communities. I thank Enbridge for their commitment and their leadership, but I also thank the 23 communities that have worked so hard to make today a reality. Consistent with our Seven Sacred Teachings that guide us and the principle of seven generations, we are proud to announce our collective partnership and ownership of these seven pipelines, which I believe have an enormous impact on our people for many years to come. I am proud of what we've accomplished here today, and I believe we all should be proud of what we've accomplished.
I look forward to our collective way forward, my partners.
Thank you, Justin, and thank you everyone. We'll now field some questions both from here in the room and online. I'd ask, given the importance of today's announcement, that you limit your questions to the subject at hand, today's announcement. If you have other questions for the Premier, you can direct them to the Premier's office. If you have questions for the Enbridge team, then please feel free to reach out rather to the media relations team. With that, before we kick it off, I'll ask that you identify yourself, your affiliation, and who you'd like to ask the question to. Are there any questions in the room first? Please.
Well, I think that, you know, it's probably been decades. You know, our belief is we never surrendered the natural resources. When we signed the treaty with the Crown, it was to a depth of the plow. That means six inches. It's been a long time coming and, you know, it's probably been decades, I would say. Well, we've been in the business since 1967. Frog Lake is an oil and gas band. At the peak, we were 10,000 barrels. You know, we sell power to Strathcona Resources, which was once Pengrowth and then Cona. Another deal brokered through the AIOC. We're actually talking wind, and we're actually looking at dealing with the Big Six on the carbon capture in the Cold Lake region.
Exactly right, Chief. The renewable projects can be financed through the AIOC. As you know, there are a number of proposals for major hydrogen projects in this part of Alberta, and at least two or three of them have included groups of First Nations and Indigenous communities to participate as well. Now, they haven't gone to full final deal structuring and final investment decisions, but if and when they do so, I fully expect that those nations will be coming to AIOC for backstop.
You know, you've heard me say before, I think we may be looking at upwards of CAD 30 billion of investments in low-emitting hydrogen projects, primarily in the Edmonton region, in the balance of this decade, in addition to something in the range of CAD 30 billion of low-emitting petrochemical projects, and all of that potentially attached to something like CAD 30 billion of investment or more in carbon capture and storage infrastructure. Every one of those projects involves a major Canadian or multinational company with the kind of financial sophistication that Enbridge has brought to this. AIOC will be there to facilitate all of that, which is really putting Alberta on hyperdrive in terms of energy transition.
Sorry, I just also wanted to add to that, too. You know, from my perspective, it's been an evolution of a relationship between Indigenous communities, industry, government, so too with our society and the awakening realization of in residential schools and where we've shifted to date. This is just another one of those milestones in an evolution. The relationship between Indigenous communities and industry has been there for decades. We've been working through it for decades. I'm not saying it's been great for decades, but today is a day to move forward on, and a really important day in that evolution of those relationships that are held.
Yes, I cannot miss this opportunity. You know, what this really is saying, I think, in terms of your question is this type of structure and approach and collaboration can unlock value. When you really get down to the energy transition, it's not just about, you know, how much fossil fuel production there is. It's about all the sources of supply that are going to be needed in the years ahead. What does that take? It takes infrastructure. Any way you look at it, any type of energy supply requires infrastructure to get from point A to point B. What we're doing here today, it gives us confidence that we've got a model of collaboration that can work. I think it really unlocks the value through partnerships.
Thank you. Why don't we turn it to the operator for questions.
Emma Graney, Globe and Mail.
Please, Globe and Mail.
Yeah, good day, guys. Thanks for taking my questions here. Just first off the bat, I just wanna check the technicalities here. I think you said, and I think this might be Jason. I think you said it was a CAD quarter billion dollar backstop from the province. Can you confirm that? Also, where else is the financing coming from here? How is that working?
We'll have, Chana Martineau answer that.
I will specifically speak to the AIOC involvement in the financing portion of the transaction. It's Chana Martineau, Emma.
The AIOC participated via a loan guarantee on the CAD 250 million piece of the loan that the Indigenous communities use to fund this investment.
Just to complete the other part of the total value there. The rest of it essentially is done through what we call a private placement. It's like a, you know, bond offering or a debt offering that's done with investors, and that was completed earlier this week. That makes up the remainder of the CAD 1.1 billion.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Just this question, I suppose it's for Chief or Stan or Jason, one of you guys or all of you if you want. You talked a lot about accountability when it comes to the pipeline, and I'm wondering if you can speak more to what that actually looks like, especially around environmental accountability and the energy transition. I know you touched a bit on this in the last question, but just if you can expand. Thanks.
I apologize. Do you mind repeating that question again?
Yeah, sure. No worries. When you're talking about accountability in the pipeline, now that there's a partnership that owns it, can you speak more to what that looks like on an environmental front and when it comes to the energy transition, how you hold Enbridge accountable, for example, and what that looks like from your perspective with the new consortium?
Yeah, thank you for repeating the question. Appreciate that for context. As Indigenous peoples, I think, it's well known that we hold ourselves in high regard to be stewards of the land. We are land users. We are reliant on the land and in all aspects of our historical and still today. So in terms of an environmental importance, I think it's at the very height of the spectrum for a lot of Indigenous communities. This partnership in general provides a completely different platform that we've never had in terms of engagement, in terms of discussion, in terms of being able to hold accountable. I would say we now look move forward today as partners. In terms of holding environmental accountability, we have discussions as partners instead of stakeholders.
I think that's the important piece I would like to highlight this part of your question.
Thanks. Emma, did you have a follow-up? If not.
No, I'm good. Thank you.
Okay, perfect. We'll go to the room then. Any questions from the room? No. Oh, we do have one.
Yes. Thank you for that. I think that it's a gesture of goodwill and this is what we want. We wanna be at the table, we wanna be engaged, not just consulted and not just again rushing for two months. We need to look at long-term. We need to look at sustainability. I too looking forward to working along with with Enbridge, just sitting there. You know, we talked about a green pipeline. How do we turn it into a green pipeline? Now we're partners. I have to be accountable too. You know, we have to look at ways, you know.
How many people know that, you know, these pipelines are double lined when they cross underneath a waterway or they go around, you know, waterfowl and stuff like that, you know. I think that this is what we wanted as First Nations people is to be at the table and to have the ability to be owners is important. Again, it's it takes the Government of Alberta to put something together like this. You know, as a chief and as a leader of the province or a Métis settlement, you know, we're tasked to pull your people along. This is one way that we will pull all our people along, even the ones that are struggling with an addiction, you have to pull them along.
You know what? This has been a long time coming, and we're just looking forward to moving forward with Enbridge. You know, it's a template that, you know, I hope other industry partners will use. Thank you.
Thank you very much for that question. I think the questions like that definitely assist and help out in our endeavors to become players within industry itself. Just to bring to your attention, you asked whether or not we were surprised about being invited to this project.
Not necessarily. We as well had a kick at the can, if you wanna call it that. With if you remember the Northern Gateway Pipeline that was introduced, must've been a decade ago, I think it was. We were one of the communities that was approached by Enbridge at the time to participate in the, not only in the construction, but as well as the equity part of it. When this came along here, we definitely were tickled pink to be asked to come on board with the project and. Not the project, but the whole process, I'll say. That's why I said the bar has been set for Enbridge by Enbridge, okay?
For us on Métis Settlement land anyway, to as well bring attention to the other industry players that are nickel-and-diming us currently as we speak here today. I think this sends a loud message. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Are there any other questions here in the room? None online. With that, I think. Oh, there is another question. Okay, go ahead, operator.
Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald.
Hi, this is a question for Al Monaco. Al, can you explain why was the name Rocket chosen as the code name for this project? Separately, in your mind, is this a new model that Enbridge will pursue on all of its projects in terms of ownership?
The first one's actually the tougher question. Project Rocket really is meant to symbolize the fact that we wanna move up. We wanna move forward. I mentioned earlier in my remarks to the question that we've sort of gradually built ourselves up to this point. We started with consultation and accommodation. We moved up through the various layers of engagement with Indigenous groups, and this is really the pinnacle. I think a rocket exemplifies that we are rising up. Is it the model? Boy, we'd sure like it to be. When you think about, I mean, you've heard it here today. There are many, many benefits of what we've done.
The real prize, as I said earlier, is how we can unlock value for Indigenous groups and our own economy in Canada by partnering with Indigenous groups to essentially be able to proceed with infrastructure that we dearly need in this country, not just this province. Whether it's a low-carbon opportunity, you heard about renewables, which by the way, to go to the previous question, the company has committed to net zero. What does that mean day-to-day? It means, for example, on these pipelines, potentially powering them with electricity, particularly from solar farms. This is all part of the matrix that we're putting together here. It takes great partners. It takes a collection of collaboration to come together and build something.
Whether it's low carbon or conventional resources, yes, we'd like this to be the model, both on this side of the border and south of the border. Again, just to make the point one more time, infrastructure is key to either of those sources of supply. We need to unlock that, and this is a good way to do that.
Thanks. Chris, did you have a follow-up?
Yes, I have a question for Justin. I'm curious on what other projects the group is looking at right now in terms of the energy and energy transition. Does he believe that other projects can proceed without an ownership component in place?
Yeah. Thanks for that question. I would say Athabasca Indigenous Investments was created specifically to partner with Enbridge on this partnership and to bring prosperity to our communities. Now that being said, are Indigenous communities out there looking to explore opportunities to invest in the resource development? Absolutely. I think every community out there has a varying degree of capacity, understanding, and motives into why and where they want to invest in. I would say that this, we've been saying multiple times, this partnership is historic and it's landmark, and it is the model for the way forward. I think a lot of industry, both oil and gas and other industries out there, will look to this partnership as exactly that, a model to look to.
They may change, and they may look different, but I think that going forward, I think maybe to highlight the answer to the last part of your question there, will new projects come forward without Indigenous ownership? I hope not. Today's historic moments and the partnerships that have been created as an example for the industry going forward. I hope that all new developments that happen on traditional Indigenous lands include those traditional Indigenous people in that ownership.
Chris, I just thought I'd add a comment here. I know that the AIOC is working on a number of other prospective transactions to support. They have now committed about CAD 450 million of the initial CAD 1 billion of credit that we made available to indigenous communities through the corporation. We've always been willing to expand that amount in the future if there is suitable demand. I have to commend the AIOC. When we created them, we wanted to be clear that these had to be commercially viable projects. They put a lot of rigor into analyzing these deals. Sometimes it's moved more slowly than I would like, but I'm willing to forgive all of that today. Part of the vision here, though, was, you know. Let me just back up a step.
When I announced the idea to create this billion-dollar fund in the spring of 2019, cast your mind back to that. We'd been through four or five years of recession, economic decline, high and stubborn unemployment. I'll be very blunt. I was concerned that there might be a backlash, a negative backlash from unemployed folks saying, "Why are you doing this for Indigenous communities while we're out here unemployed?" I said at the time, and I want to repeat this to maybe some Albertans who don't. Maybe there's some people wondering, what's this all about? Let's be blunt. If we're gonna have a future as a province, for our largest industry, we need pipelines built. We will not get pipelines built without the full participation of First Nations and Indigenous People. Period. Full stop.
The most effective way to ensure that participation is as equal partners with an ownership stake. That's the part of the vision to people who wonder, this is not a handout. This is truly a handout into complex deals which can create potentially tens and tens of billions of CAD of economic advantage and employment for Albertans. I've said to the Prime Minister on several occasions that we've encouraged the federal government to accelerate discussions with the three, now I think two consortia of First Nations interested in taking an ownership stake on the Trans Mountain expansion. I've said that we are prepared to help underwrite that through the AIOC, for example. The feds have gone more slowly on those discussions than we would've liked. I think you'll see.
really, I think this is the takeaway today. Enbridge has seized the opportunity. The First Nations have always been there with their hand extended. AIOC has helped to bridge the gap in the capital markets, and we now have clearly demonstrated a new model, which I think will likely be replicated many times to come.
Thank you. We have time for one more last question, and we'll turn to the operator for that.
Rod Nickel, Reuters.
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Question is for Al. Al, I think I heard you say that you want to do partnerships like this across the entire North American system. Does that include the main line? How much of it are you open to selling in a partnership like this?
Too early to tell. That's the short answer. Look, we've got a plethora of assets in North America. We're the largest energy midstream company on the continent, and so that spawns a lot of opportunities. We've got assets in, you know, numerous states and provinces, so it's all a potential. I don't wanna get specific about which assets would be under consideration. It really depends on a lot of things. Certainly, the theme and the theory and what we're trying to do here overall as far as what the premier just said is part of the equation going forward. That's the key.
Was there a fast follow-up?
No. That's fine. Thank you.
Okay. With that, we'll close off the Q&A. I wanna thank media for your patience. Thank you to our participants. For those here in the room, we're gonna have a very quick photo op, and I'll ask the speakers to stick around for that. If there are any follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out to the Enbridge media relations team. Thanks once again for participating.