South Beach Capital Partners (SBCP), the investment vehicle backed by seven of Manitoba's First Nations indigenous tribes, has said it will lobby against start-up Canada Jetlines (AU, Toronto Pearson) and its bid to be exempted from Canada's foreign ownership laws.

Earlier this year, Jetlines started lobbying the Canadian Ministry of Transport to allow it to offer foreign investors up to 49% of its total voting rights, a 24% jump from the currently gazetted maximum of 25% foreign ownership. It claims it has several international investors that specialize in supporting Ultra Low Cost Carriers (ULCC) that are willing to invest in the company. The start-up says it is struggling to raise the CAD27 million (USD20.9 million) it needs to satisfy Stage I (Financial Fitness) of its airline licensing process with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).

However, Jim Bear, Chief of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and spokesman for SBCP, told Canada's CBC that the firm will ask Transport Minister Marc Garneau to veto Jetlines' petition to protect their interests as an indigenous entity.

SBCP made a substantial investment in Jetlines' rival, the recently launched LCC NewLeaf (Winnipeg International), in June which Bear says it will protect at all costs.

"As First Nations we are always being told, 'Why don't you guys get into business? Why don't you work towards self-sufficiency?' Then when we do, to have the audacity of foreign ownership come into play," he told CBC News.

Bear added that SBCP will also lobby Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett to reject Jetlines' exemption.

As a virtual carrier, NewLeaf has been able to circumvent Transport Canada's costly certification process. Following lengthy scrutinization by TC earlier this year, it was eventually allowed to offer commercial services. At present, it uses a B737-400 chartered from partner Flair Airlines (F8, Kelowna) to serve Abbotsford, Halifax, Kelowna, Kamloops, Moncton, Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria International, Hamilton, ON, and Winnipeg International.