FRASER INSTITUTE: Pipelines can be economic lifelines for many remote Indigenous communities and offer, perhaps, the only real chance to raise living standards
CALGARY —A large number of small, remote and fairly poor First Nations in British Columbia and Alberta support pipelines because they stand to gain substantially from them, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “ Pipelines can be economic lifelines for many remote Indigenous communities and offer, perhaps, the only real chance to raise living standards, which is why it’s not surprising so many First Nations support pipeline projects ,” said Tom Flanagan, Fraser Institute senior fellow, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary and author of How First Nations Benefit from Pipeline Construction . The study finds that pipeline-benefit agreements with First Nations are worth potentially billions of dollars—both in terms of revenue and employment—and many of the communities that support several notable pipeline projects desperately need increased economic dev...