Indigenous people ‘not a barrier’ to northern development, says premier

NWT Premier RJ Simpson used a Toronto conference to argue for Indigenous engagement, involvement and ownership early in major project development.

“The federal government wants to move quickly and I suspect that they’re going to be looking at the big firms in Canada,” said Simpson at the Public Policy Forum’s 2026 Canada Growth Summit.

“But there has to be mechanisms by which the Indigenous peoples will receive contracts and will get benefits.

“Otherwise, people are willing to lay down in the road and make sure these projects don’t happen.”

Simpson joined chief executive officer of Nukik Corporation Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, chair of the Agnico Eagle board Sean Boyd, and former Conservative Party of Canada leader Erin O’Toole on a conference panel titled. Indigenous Ownership and Inclusive Growth.

Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty was also listed as a panelist in the agenda but did not participate. The summit took place in Toronto from May 7-8.

The panel covered topics like the major infrastructure projects in the NWT and Nunavut, an increase in northern defence spending, what private industry needs to see to invest in the North, and the need for Indigenous leadership over infrastructure projects.

Asked how the lessons learned from the management and remediation of Giant Mine could be applied to the NWT projects referred to the Major Projects Office, Simpson spoke about opportunities for economic reconciliation.

“When the [request for proposal] went out for site maintenance or management of the Giant Mine site, the remediation project, there was an opportunity where the Yellowknives Dene or a local group who do have sophisticated development [corporations] could have stepped up and played a role,” said Simpson. “Instead that contract went to Parsons, which is an American-based multinational corporation.”

He acknowledged that the North has capacity issues to lead a project of this size, and that a lot of the subcontracts did ultimately go to northern businesses.

“We’re basically Timmins, Ontario trying to govern all of Ontario,” he said.

Simpson said Indigenous groups in the NWT have a lot of authority over things that happen in the territory.

“I don’t think it’s a barrier bringing Indigenous peoples in. That’s why these projects are moving forward. The hold has been that that hasn’t been happening,” said Simpson.

Compared to other premiers, Simpson says he has the “least authority” and said his job is to bring the different leaders in the NWT together.

An example of this Simpson provided during the panel was getting the Mackenzie Valley Highway referred to the Major Projects Office, which he said was a joint effort between the GNWT and the Indigenous governments along the proposed route.

“We’ve been very clear with the federal government that this needs to be done on our terms as northerners, which means there needs to be robust Indigenous involvement,” said Simpson.

Historical lack of federal involvement

Simpson said the NWT has been advocating for federal investments for generations and “all at once, they’ve come to the North.”

Audouin said Indigenous ownership over development in the North started in part because the federal government was not stepping up.

“Inuit didn’t start on that ownership cycle for major projects because they were hoping for financial gains or because they were hoping to make a few bucks from leading those projects. They really looked at it as we are not thriving here,” said Audouin.

Her corporation is trying to build the the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Line between Manitoba and Nunavut, and she said the project is 100-percent Inuit owned.

“We just wouldn’t have a project without the DNA of Inuit pushing for that initiative,” said Audouin.

The NWT regulatory process uses a co-management system that brings Indigenous, territorial and federal governments together to collectively make decisions. But for 10 years, Simpson said, the federal government wasn’t very involved and wasn’t appointing people to boards to make timely decisions.

With the recent signing of the GNWT-Ottawa memorandum of understanding on regulatory streamlining, Simpson said the federal government is now “heavily involved.”

“I’m seeing real results from that. When we can shave off a month here, six weeks there, two months there, all of a sudden our system is efficient, it’s quick and it’s effective,” said Simpson.

Simpson said he understands the federal government wants to work quickly, and said the GNWT wants to see these projects developed soon too, but said engaging Indigenous people needs to be prioritized.

“We want to see development that will allow the people of the territory to still go out on the land, to still harvest the way they always have since time immemorial and going on into the future,” said Simpson.

You can listen to the panel on the Cable Public Affairs Channel live stream of the forum. The Indigenous Ownership and Inclusive Growth panel is from 07:02-52:20.