The $5-billion announced for an Indigenous loan guarantee program in last week’s budget is just a start, said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
“Nothing would make me happier than seeing that $5-billion oversubscribed and needing to put in place even more,” she said, speaking to media at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
The program is designed to help Indigenous communities buy equity in natural resource and energy projects by securing them more favourable interest rates.
Freeland said she would like to see the program up and running quickly, and the government has set up a special office in the Privy Council to get clean energy projects done faster.
But the government also faced criticism at the conference for being slow to roll out a key framework to help draw energy transition…
