SIX NATIONS – While an official announcement has not been made, the Ontario First Nations Hydro One purchase may be happening.
While Six Nations Elected Council has yet to announce if they will be participating in the deal — Elected Chief Ava Hill confirmed via email that 129 First Nations out of a possible 133 have signed so the deal will proceed whether or not Six Nations accepted the offer or not.
The sale of shares to First Nations across the province was introduced by Premiere Kathleen Wynne after Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day objected to First Nations being excluded from Wynne’s 2015 announcement to partially privatize Hydro One — offering 60 per cent ownership to the private market.
A 2.5 per cent slice of that 60 per cent was opened up collectively to Ontario’s First Nations communities in 2016 when the Chiefs of Ontario announced an agreement-in-principle with Hydro One.
Regional Chief Isadore Day called the deal a “modern political accord”. Day said, “Having meaningful equity participation in Hydro One is a unique long-term wealth creation opportunity for our collective First Nations. More significantly, we now have the opportunity to secure our rightful place not only in the energy sector but in the economy as a whole.”
According to stats released by the Chiefs of Ontario the deal has long term potential to increase to $1.2 billion value throughout 25 years.
