The recently released aboriginal benefits package by Enbridge Northern Gateway has garnered positive interest from aboriginal communities in having a closer look, President John Carruthers said.
Since its release, they’ve met with approximately two-thirds of the aboriginal communities along the right-of-way, he said.
“Certainly, those communities have been interested in what was being offered,” Carruthers said.
The equity portion, which provides them a 10 per cent ownership in the project, was a means to bring them into the project, he said. It’s a $5.5 billion offer. An aboriginal hiring policy was also in the report.
“There’s pretty significant opportunities for aboriginal communities,” Carruthers said.
The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs announced shortly after that their opinion of the project has not changed — they remain opposed to the proposed pipeline.
Carruthers said they will continue to hold discussions with the Wet’suwet’en.
“We’ll continue to look for that dialogue with them, to try and create a common understanding between us,” Carruthers said.