The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that representatives from 120 Western Canadian indigenous communities are set to begin meetings with the federal government next week aimed at acquiring minority interest in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline. The Globe's Jeffrey Jones writes that the discussions, which could take months, represent the first part of a two-phase process that Ottawa is leading to sell its full ownership of the 1,150-kilometre pipeline. Trans Mountain is nearing the finish of an expansion to nearly triple the line's capacity, a project that has been hit with a series of delays and cost overruns. The meetings are scheduled to begin in Vancouver, involving at least two delegates from each of the communities, which would make up a group that could own a more than 20-per-cent stake after receiving federal funding. The organization is one of a handful of bidding groups that have formed over the past five years that aim to secure economic benefit from the project for indigenous people. Chinook Pathways, a partnership between Western Indigenous Pipeline Group and Pembina Pipeline, is also vying for a piece of Trans Mountain. TMX is Canada's only pipeline for transporting oil to the West Coast.