The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Canada's first nations have an interest worth hundreds of millions of dollars in resource industry development and are likely to call more of the industry's shots in the future, a research paper concludes. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that University of Saskatchewan professor Ken Coates says the resource sector will not expand "without full partnerships with indigenous Canadians." Dr. Coates wrote the report for the Indian Resource Council, which represents first nations oil and gas producers. He notes that aboriginal opinion on new energy, pipeline and mineral projects reflects the same splits in the rest of Canada. He writes while many "connected to broader environmental and climate change protesters" oppose such developments, others welcome well-regulated proposals. He cites several examples of bands that have prospered. Saskatchewan's Meadow Lake Tribal Council controls companies that earn up to $80-million and employ nearly 200 aboriginals through work with uranium mines. Aboriginal equity in the resource sector is dwarfed by the amount of money in play. Suncor, Canada's largest energy firm, is worth nearly $43-billion.