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OTTAWA — In a highly unusual move, the federal government gifted a $39-million stake in a B.C. coal terminal to two First Nations communities, perhaps signaling the rising cost of winning Indigenous support for natural resource projects.

The Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) announced in July that it had transferred a 10 per cent stake in the publicly-owned Ridley Terminals facility to the Lax Kw’alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation, whose people reside near Prince Rupert on the northern B.C. coast. Finance officials confirmed there was “no payment associated with that transfer.”

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The transfer comes after the two Indigenous groups were set to be major beneficiaries of a liquefied natural gas project that has since been scrapped.

The decision by Ottawa to give away a stake in a taxpayer-owned asset could play into a broader debate over First Nations communities and the extent to which governments should support their entry into the natural resources sector. Indigenous communities have long claimed that resource extraction has interrupted their traditional way of life while also hurting their communities and economy, and have called on the government to make amends.