Conference tries to build momentum for Dehcho clean energy projects

Dehcho communities had the opportunity to develop and pitch clean energy projects to federal and territorial funders during an inaugural clean energy planning conference in Yellowknife this week. 

Throughout the three-day event, organizer Jason Collard said community representatives had gotten together in groups and came up with "quick projects" to pitch to funders on Thursday.

Collard said the intent was to "build momentum and success" around green energy projects but also to get communities working together on projects rooted in traditional knowledge and traditional values. 

One of the event's goals was also practical: to skip the process of filling out complex, multi-page funding application forms, which Collard said are often a "huge barrier" for Indigenous governments that are "spread very, very thin." 

"Nobody brought their chequebooks that I can see," said Collard, who is also the co-founder of Gonezu Energy in Fort Providence, N.W.T. "But … we've got funders here today that are willing to meet communities where they're at, hear them on their own terms, and then look for creative ways to support that moving forward." 

Representatives from the Arctic Energy Alliance, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, NT Energy, Northland Utilities and the N.W.T. government were among the roughly one dozen people expected to hear pitches on Thursday afternoon. 

Integrating traditional knowledge

Angus James Capot-Blanc Jr., a champion of geothermal energy in the community of Fort Liard, said his group came up with the idea of year round community greenhouses that could cut down on fossil fuels used to transport goods to communities. Different communities could focus on growing different veggies, he said.

"Fort Liard grows potatoes. Nahanni grows lettuce. Sambaa K'e grows zucchinis, and say we could put like a food box program or something, say, for northerners."

Distributing a box of northern-grown fruits and veggies would also help with the North's food sovereignty problem, he said. 

Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation Chief Kele Antoine was among the roughly 60 people in the conference room on Thursday. In an emailed statement to CBC News, he described the event as a "crucial step" toward a sustainable future.

"By integrating traditional knowledge and Dene laws with modern clean energy solutions, we are not just addressing our energy needs but also reaffirming our commitment to protecting our land and way of life for future generations," reads Antoine's statement.

Capot-Blanc Jr. said he was also happy Gonezu Energy and Dehcho First Nations organized the clean energy planning event, and he felt it was making progress to bring more renewable forms of energy into the North. 

"This [a] is very exciting thing, especially for our youth, because we'll be the ones dealing with, gonna be dealing with these problems," he said. "We gotta attack them head on."