Ottawa opens up 15% Trans Mountain equity stake to Indigenous groups on pipeline path

By Brett Bundale The Canadian government has offered Indigenous groups a collective 15 per cent ownership stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline, advancing a long-promised plan to give First Nations equity in the federally owned infrastructure connecting Alberta crude to a Vancouver-area export terminal. In a letter to a First Nation along the pipeline’s path seen by The Canadian Press on Tuesday, a Department of Finance official said the equity investment would be equally distributed among participating groups “through a low-cost government-provided loan.” The Trans Mountain equity offer follows consultations and discussions with 129 First Nations, said John Fragos, spokesperson for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. Ottawa is now gauging interest among the Indigenous nations before determining the finer details, including the size of individual stakes and the terms for buying