Welcome to Energized, a podcast brought to you by GZero Media's Blue Circle Studio and presented by NBridge.

I'm J.J. Ramberg.

Indigenous people are not against energy projects. They're not against projects at all.

We're pro-smart projects, and that means doing projects that are compatible

with indigenous values, which increasingly are the general Canadian population's values.

Clean energy, clean water, clean environment, clean economics.

It's impossible to talk about energy transition without touching on the important

role indigenous peoples play in North America's energy future. Historically, infrastructure-like

pipelines have been built on indigenous lands without the input or the permission of the people

living there. And that has to change. While we still have a long way to go

towards reconciliation, we've taken some steps in the right direction. In the last few years,

there have been more and more instances of indigenous equity participation in new energy

infrastructure projects. That means that energy companies are working with the communities that

own the land to make decisions about what happens on it.

And when a project is successful, those communities get the financial compensation they deserve.

In 2022, Enbridge sold a minority stake in seven pipelines in northern Alberta, Canada, to a group of 23 indigenous communities for more than

$1 billion. That group is called Athabasca Indigenous Investments, and it was represented by Justin Bork.

Later on in the show, we'll be chatting with Justin, as well as Mark Puddlasley from the First

Nation's major project coalition. But before speaking with them, I wanted to hear from Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel about why he

believes indigenous partnership is part of the future of his business.

Greg, what role do you think energy companies play in reconciliation with indigenous communities?

Generally, you know, it doesn't matter whether it's pipelines or renewables. There's long,

...