Nestled between British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake and the city of Vernon lies Priest’s Valley IR7, a small parcel of the Okanagan Indian Band where Firman Latimer, EMBA '20, spends his workday. The view of the Vernon regional airport isn’t quite as picturesque as that of his former lakefront office, but this prime real estate in the Okanagan Territory is where the busy founder of First Nation Power Development (FNpower) trailblazes in the renewable energy sector.
Lauren Turner, Sr. Sustainability Specialist at Ivey's Centre of Building Sustainable Value, sat down with Latimer to learn more about the organization’s vision of putting the clean energy transition into the hands of Canada’s First Nations.
This piece is based on an interview with Firman Latimer. Some quotes have been edited for clarity.
“With renewable energy, we thought First Nations communities could be in the driver’s seat. We can be some of the first movers on the whole thing,” muses Latimer, reflecting on the events that spurred him to create FNpower. Drawing on experience, business education, and foresight, Latimer predicted a huge economic shift from resource-depleting fossil fuels to renewables long ago, one that would require massive investment, time, and human resources. The federal government estimates Canada will need to attract $140 billion in capital in order to finance its ambitious net-zero goals, and will triple its energy labour force by 2050 to pull it off. It's no easy feat, to which Latimer says, “Well, that’s also the opportunity, right?”
He is, after all, an entrepreneur.
And as a member of the Serpent River First Nation, Latimer also has first-hand knowledge of the unique strengths, cultures, and needs of First Nation communities. His work with Indigenous economic development started early; after completing a bachelor’s degree in commerce, Latimer landed a government role in Alberta as a Treaty 6 Field Services Officer. From there, he was recruited by O’Chiese First Nation to assist with an economic development project the community was about to explore. As it turns out, the Nation sat atop a wealth of natural resources, and the community needed someone with a business background to support with various projects, including navigating procurement for the O’Chiese Energy and Bellatrix Exploration Joint Venture. With an agreement in place allowing for the growth of small adjacent businesses, Latimer and his team developed the O’Chiese Business & Investment Centre, and things took off from there.
📷 O’Chiese Business & Investment Centre poster demonstrating the diversification of local businesses that support large projects and joint ventures in the First Nation community.
What started as an employee base of three grew to around 200 people, generating gainful employment opportunities and steady cash flow for the community. Procurement agreements reached in the negotiations of various joint ventures spurred the creation of grassroots businesses that serviced the projects both on and offsite, from medical facilities, gas stations, grocery stores, and entertainment, to well service rigs, fluid hauling, and heavy construction.
📷 Latimer (second from right) and team who navigated and secured a service rig joint venture project with O’Chiese First Nation. Photo provided by Firman Latimer.
After eight years of building up infrastructure and economic development opportunities with O’Chiese First Nation, Latimer was hired by the Okanagan Indian Band to fulfill a similar role in British Columbia. It was through these experiences that he began to notice a few universal constants:
- First Nations people had a growing say in what activities happened on their territories.
- Governments were starting to listen to them and exert pressure on organizations to comply.
But,
- Despite these positive steps, something still irked Latimer: It was always someone else that drove the project and received the lion’s share of the benefit, and never the First Nation people at the head of the decision-making table.
So, after a decade in the field, Latimer applied to the Ivey Executive MBA program looking to enhance his management and leadership skills. His prior professional experiences and capstone education would lay the groundwork for enabling First Nations communities to take the reins on economic development projects.
Smoke Point
In early 2020, Latimer left the EMBA program with the confidence and zeal one would expect of a newly minted grad, only to be met with the COVID pandemic and a barrage of government enforced lockdowns. A global disruption that would have deflated many embarking on a new professional chapter, Latimer saw it as an opportunity to reflect. His previous experience had shown him the importance of equipping First Nations communities with the economic acumen to be savvy in business affairs and retain decision-making agency. And he'd also seen too many wildfires darken skies, suffocate communities, and displace whole cities in a trend hastened by climate change. “How many summers of living in black smoke do we need before we realize that we should be more conscious of what we’re putting into the atmosphere?” he asked, just weeks before Canadians witnessed a national treasure ravaged by flames and reduced to near-rubble.
📷 Photo taken from Latimer’s phone of a smoke-filled sky during the 2021 White Rock Lake wildfire evacuation, near Vernon, B.C.
All of this prompted him to think about how to modify economic development activities to generate cleaner power, while also contributing to the reconciliation of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. “How do we adjust so we can actually start combatting some of this climate change and global warming? It's obviously having a major impact on the environment… we’re living at ground zero watching our forests burn and community members being evacuated from their homes for months on end.”
“So, I took a chance,” he said. “I'm going to start this organization that's going to focus purely on renewable energy and putting these renewable assets in the hands of First Nation communities, and we are going to be some of the drivers.”
And so, FNpower was born, with the goals of sealing Indigenous cultures, values, and natural stewardship into economic project management. As a First Nations-owned and operated organization, FNpower was created with the purpose to equip First Nations peoples with the capacity to take the reins on major renewable energy projects and reinvest earnings directly back into their communities.
Money Talks
Starting up a clean energy company and competing against goliath players in a well-established industry was not a simple task. Latimer concedes there’s a reason why oil and gas are so successful: their lucrative dividends and daily demand keep pipelines flowing and shareholders happy. Renewables, on the other hand, yield steady, long-term financial rewards, in stark contrast to the hot and fast payout of fossil fuels.
Not only are renewables less profitable in the short-term, but kickstarting such projects requires upfront money – lots of it. Funding mechanisms like grants and subsidies exist but are harder to obtain for First Nations communities who are subject to complicated regulatory restrictions. Many First Nations reserves are governed by federal policies and cannot be used as collateral, presenting another obstacle when trying to bootstrap projects with secured financing. In addition to limited cash flow and equity in reserve land, Latimer says a lack of capacity to comprehend regulatory complexities is often a barrier for community members who lack financial or legal know-how. This is where Latimer’s education and experience enable him to sift through the red tape, navigate byzantine financial products, and secure borrowing rates that make these projects viable.
Right Place, Right People
Once through the initial planning and readiness assessment stages, the final piece is finding the right partner - an essential ingredient in ensuring a project's long-term, sustained success. Given the cultural and historical sensitivities around First Nations communities, Latimer wanted FNpower to be able to take partnerships one step further by offering in-house Cultural Awareness Training. This program is a unique feature especially helpful to foreign or multinational organizations that may be unaware of Canada's fraught colonial history with Indigenous peoples. Latimer says when working with First Nations communities, coming from a place of understanding and transparency goes a long way. And perhaps not surprisingly, Latimer has found organizations in the renewable energy sector much more willing to work with communities and embrace their stewardship lens, an attitude toward doing business that Latimer calls a "breath of fresh air" not often found in the petro-realm.
Powering Communities
Success of these major economic development projects hinges on the right mix of people, money, and opportunity; when these coalesce, it means gainful employment for First Nation community members beyond local procurement, and skill-building that is highly desirable to a growing clean energy market. It’s how initiatives like the Tilley Solar Facility come to fruition – a partnership brokered by FNpower between Concord Pacific and Alexander First Nation. The project, financed by the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, will generate 23.6 megawatts of energy from nearly 70,000 photovoltaic panels feeding directly into Alberta’s grid.
And in its hands, Alexander First Nation will enjoy the steady and predictable income stream generated by a utility-based clean energy project, with earnings ripe for reinvestment back into the community.
📷 Thousands of photovoltaic panels from the Tilley Solar project, brokered by FNpower between Concord Pacific and Alexander First Nation. Photo provided by Firman Latimer.
Building Momentum
The Tilley Solar Facility is the latest in several projects championed by Latimer and his team at FNpower. Never one to rest on his laurels, Latimer is confident there are more to come, with the goal of showing other First Nations that despite the challenges, such projects are doable.
When it comes to getting the work done, Latimer says it’s ultimately about empowerment. “It’s all there. The paths are all there. We’ve just got to get the momentum going in that direction.”
“I think what we're doing is unique and hopefully will create a pathway that other communities can follow, to help make the world a better place.”
For more information on FNpower’s projects, visit fnpower.ca.
Sources
Canadian Climate Institute. (2022). Clean Electricity, Affordable Energy. Retrieved from https://climateinstitute.ca/reports/electricity/
Canadian Infrastructure Bank. (2024, August). Tilley Solar. Retrieved from https://cib-bic.ca/en/projects/clean-power/tilley-solar/
FNpower. (n.d.) Projects. Retrieved from https://fnpower.ca/projects-2-2
FNpower. (2023). Cultural Awareness Training Services [digital pamphlet]. Retrieved from https://fnpower.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Cultural-Awareness-Training-Services.pdf
O’Chiese First Nation. (n.d.). This is our Community. Retrieved from https://ochiese.ca/
Struzik, E. (2024, 25 July). The 2024 Jasper Fire is a grim reminder of the urgency of adopting a Canadian national wildfire strategy. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/the-2024-jasper-fire-is-a-grim-reminder-of-the-urgency-of-adopting-a-canadian-national-wildfire-strategy-235567
Sustainable Finance Action Council. (2022, September). Taxonomy Roadmap Report. Mobilizing Finance for Sustainable Growth by Defining Green and Transition Investments. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/fin/publications/sfac-camfd/2022/09/2022-09-eng.pdf
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