The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that first nations are set to increasingly become equity partners in major projects, a shift that could lead to self-sustaining financial independence, said the chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post quotes chair Sharleen Gale telling the coalition's annual conference Monday that it is all part of a move toward consent and community involvement being at the forefront of project development. "There's a new way of doing business within our traditional territories," said Ms. Gale. RBC chief executive officer Dave McKay, in conversation with Ms. Gale at the conference, said the country is in the early days of building that self-sustaining cycle. "To start is hard ... this is the hardest part of it, but then you're going to get a flywheel effect where you're going to reinvest from one project into the next." He said the $5-billion federal commitment is a good start. He said there are so many projects getting under way, especially related to the energy transition, that will create so many opportunities and funding needs. RBC has faced criticism for its financing of both the Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines.