Canada’s indigenous communities are seeking deals with China that could give Beijing access to the country’s natural resources, despite warnings from Canadian security services about doing business with Xi Jinping’s government.

This week, the Canada-China Business Council’s Indigenous trade mission is in Beijing to discuss possible energy and trade deals in a trip that could put Canada’s national “reconciliation” with its First Nations communities at odds with its national security priorities.

Karen Ogen, co-chair of the trade mission and executive director of the First Nations Liquefied Natural Gas Alliance, said her goal on the trip, which begins Wednesday, was to sell LNG to benefit Wet’suwet’ communities. in Canada. western province of British Columbia.

“We have been oppressed and repressed by our own government,” she said. “I know the history with China is not good, but we understand what we need and what they need.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015 pledging to promote “economic reconciliation” with Indigenous, or First Nations, communities who for decades saw their ancestral lands and resources exploited by European settlers and their culture depreciated and attacked.

He has pledged to spend billions on trade, economic and social programs with the aim of reducing inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. The government has also signed a number of land-sharing treaties with First Nations communities, granting them rights to natural resources on their territories, subject to federal rules on foreign investment.

Despite these commitments, many First Nations communities remain socially and economically deprived. Earlier this year, a UN special rapporteur said Canada’s failure to provide clean water and sanitation to First Nations reserves is a violation of human rights.

China has spotted an opportunity in the sometimes tense relationship between Canada’s national and provincial governments and indigenous groups.

In 2021, shortly after Canada imposed sanctions confronting Beijing over the treatment of its Uyghur population, Chinese officials began speaking out against “systemic violations of indigenous peoples’ rights by the United States, Canada and Australia” at the Human Rights Council UN man.

“The PRC is attempting to undermine trust between Indigenous communities and the Government of Canada by advancing a narrative that the PRC understands and sympathizes with the struggles of Indigenous communities stemming from colonialism and racism,” a spokesperson for the service said security intelligence agency of Canada.

A 2023 CSIS report accused the Chinese government of using “gray zone, deceptive and clandestine means” to influence Canadian policymaking, including Indigenous communities.

“China knows how sensitive Indigenous reconciliation is to the Trudeau government,” said Phil Gurski, a former CSIS intelligence analyst.

Relationships between Canada and China have deteriorated considerably in recent years. An official investigation reported in May that China directly meddled in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections and was “the most active foreign state actor engaged in interference” in the country. Ottawa’s Indo-Pacific Strategy 2022 also describes China as “increasingly disruptive.”

As a result, Canada’s policy toward Beijing is increasingly aligning with that of the United States, with Ottawa imposing tariffs on Chinese goods and forcing Chinese social media company TikTok to close its office canadian.

This realignment should become even more important with the election of Donald Trump south of the border. “One would expect Canada to impose stricter trade governance with China,” said Marc Ercolao, an economist at TD Bank.

But CSIS remains concerned about Beijing’s possible access to resource-rich areas or geopolitically important waterways and regions such as the Arctic through First Nations groups.

“This not only undermines the government, but it’s also a way to potentially embarrass it because of Canada’s past,” Gurski said.

But Matt Vickers, a native of the Sechelt Nations lands in the western province of British Columbia, who first visited China in the 1990s and is part of the CCBC delegation visiting Beijing this week, dismissed the security services’ concerns.

“China now understands that for a major project to be approved in Canada, you need the consent of the First Nations, and not just consent, but that the First Nations require majority participation in these projects,” he said. he declared.

The CCBC is a bipartisan organization made up of Canada’s largest companies, including Power Corp, which is the primary sponsor of the Indigenous event.

This week’s trip marks the third time a group of indigenous officials have visited China with the council in a bid to identify export markets, sources of capital and potential tourism projects.

“These missions were developed in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration, to help delegates better understand how China’s economy and economic development influence its desire for imports and investment opportunities,” said Sarah Kutulakos, Executive Director of CCBC.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on CSIS security concerns over agreements with First Nations communities, but said: “We are happy to see Canadians from all backgrounds, including Indigenous Canadians , proactively engage in pragmatic cooperation with China.

Deteriorating relations between Ottawa and Beijing mean this year’s CCBC meeting would likely be “gloomy,” said former Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques.

First Nations leaders should have “very limited expectations” from this trip. “I don’t expect big companies to come out of this,” he said.

But Ogen, of the First Nations LNG Alliance, said she would put aside the controversy surrounding the trip to Beijing. “I . . . look at the global energy sector, China’s needs for our gas and how I can make the best deal for my people,” she said.