Enbridge CEO calls for national Indigenous loan guarantee program

The CEO of Enbridge Inc. is calling for the creation of a federal Indigenous loan guarantee program.

Greg Ebel told the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Friday that Canadian energy companies are increasingly willing to offer equity ownership stakes to Indigenous communities whose traditional lands are crossed by pipelines and other infrastructure projects.

But he said Indigenous communities often don't have the necessary access to capital.

Ebel said Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario all have programs offering financing to Indigenous communities for commercial partnerships.