After less than two years, Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation loses more senior members

“This will be a game-changer.”

That’s how Premier Jason Kenney described the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) after officially announcing the launch of the organization in January of 2020.

But less than two years later, the AIOC has lost its CEO and four senior members from the board of directors.

This leaves the corporation with less Indigenous representation, raising concerns about what it can accomplish for communities.

Since its launch, three deals have been made amounting to $160 million after the group was allotted $1 billion for loan guarantees and other financial instruments in order to bolster Indigenous investment in oil and gas projects.

CEO Alicia Dubois stepped down earlier this month, with the departure being announced late in the afternoon on the Friday immediately after Remembrance Day. No reason was given.

“I am proud to have committed myself to standing up AIOC and positioning it strongly to continue to support Indigenous partnerships and economic growth as a first-of-its-kind model for all of Canada,” Dubois said in a press release.

Chief Operating Officer Matthew Machielse is now serving as interim CEO and a search is underway for a permanent replacement.

Then, as revealed through government orders in council in the Legislature, four members of the Board of Directors officially left the AIOC on Nov. 24.

This includes former Board Chair Cody Church, as well as directors Strater Crowfoot, Heather Barnhouse, and Peter Williams. Stephen Buffalo, who is also president of the Indian Resource Council, has been promoted to the chair position after serving as vice-chair.

The AIOC website still lists Crowfoot and Williams as being on the board of directors.

Questions raised

With Buffalo now sitting as the lone Indigenous member on the board, and both women connected to the AIOC also gone, it raises eyebrows.

“People leaving the organization with close to two years left on their mandate, that doesn’t speak well to the health of the organization and that doesn’t speak well to the health of the initiative,” said Robert Houle.

Houle is a research fellow at the Yellowhead Institute, a First Nation-led research centre based in the Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University in Toronto. He said he has had some suspicions about the AIOC since its launch. He says the several members leaving does not help ease his concerns.

“There was an air around the composition of the board, how it was heavily weighted towards the oil and gas industry. It seemed like more of the same for Indigenous people, that the only participation that we would be granted would be in the oil and gas sector,” he said. “It speaks to whether or not this organization, this entity, is even an Indigenous-focused entity or whether or not it’s just another arms-length government institution pushing government agendas.”

In a statement provided to CityNews Calgary, Alberta Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson thanked Dubois and Church for their service.

“I am grateful to outgoing AIOC chair Cody Church for his outstanding work launching this first-of-its-kind Crown corporation. Cody’s leadership helped to secure backstop loans worth $160 million, creating new revenue streams for 15 Indigenous communities in Alberta, some of which would have never had a chance like this,” he said. “I thank Alicia Dubois for the past year and her tremendous work at the AIOC as CEO. She has been instrumental in growing AIOC and has provided insightful leadership while serving as CEO.”

Wilson indicated in the statement that the success of the corporation meant the departing members had less time to maintain a commitment with it and their own business ventures.

“AIOC’s success and the increased attention from Indigenous communities that has followed has heightened the need for a greater time commitment from board members. All the board members are leading major companies and projects. I am grateful for all the time they have put into launching and elevating this vital organization and for making sure more Indigenous communities in Alberta have greater economic security — not just for today, but for years to come.”

‘A right to answers’

CityNews has reached out to Church, Dubois, and Buffalo for comment but they have not returned phone calls. Inquiries to the AIOC have been redirected to a Government of Alberta spokesperson.

On the other side of the aisle, the NDP also has some concerns about the high turnover.

“Clearly there is a serious problem when the CEO resigns after only 14 months and four of seven board members have also left. This corporation has only succeeded in funding two projects in its two and half years of operation,” said NDP Indigenous Relations Critic Richard Feehan

“Twice this week I have asked Minister Rick Wilson to explain what is going on here, and twice he’s refused to answer,” added Feehan.

“(Albertans) have a right to answers about the turmoil at the AIOC.”

One departing member is also connected with a government organization which is named in a lawsuit, as Houle added there is also some concern about how closely the AIOC is linked to governments and connected groups like Indian Oil and Gas Canada (IOGC).

Strater Crowfoot, who is also a member of the Indian Resource Council, was previously CEO of IOGC and is still involved with the group now. He is also named as part of a $25 million lawsuit launched by former employees of IOGC who allege harassment at the company.

In the lawsuit, first reported by APTN and Progress Report, a complainant said she filed two formal harassment complaints against a boss, but Crowfoot allegedly ruled it did not meet the threshold for harassment. She then said this led to further harassment at the workplace.

These allegations have not been proven in court.

Houle said there have been further questions about behaviour of board members, and added it is odd how the two female members who were there — Dubois and Barnhouse — have since left. Dubois and Barnhouse are also both lawyers, a fact that doesn’t sit well with Houle.

“Having worked in government and institutions like that, coincidence is very rare in some of these circumstances.”

Given the concerns over how the AIOC represents Indigenous interests in the resource sector, Houle said there needs to be more thought put into how to do this differently and more properly engage with Indigenous communities.

“It needs to focus and be directed towards challenging the authority of the province, like Alberta has exerted over resource development in their provincial boundaries since the 1930 Resource Transfer Act which unilaterally gave the province’s authority over oil and gas and other resources, which First Nations were never consulted on and never had a conversation about,” he said.

Houle said Indigenous communities have to push more for proper resource sharing, and also advocate for different forms of energy generation such as wind and solar.

“If governments continue to push us in one direction, it means we’re going to continue to trail behind the rest of the world and continue to be treated as if we are third-class citizens in our own land.”