UNDERSTANDING CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The Federal Court of Appeal overturning approval for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in 2018 arguably signaled a new level in the difficult struggle between Canada’s resource development and the Crown’s duty to consult Indigenous Peoples directly affected by a development project. It may not be the last case where the federal government finds itself unable to adequately meet both of these goals. This is, at least in part, because Indigenous Peoples have a different understanding of consultation compared to industry and government. Indeed, all three groups frame these challenges in their own way. Until they begin to better understand one another, and particularly until government and industry begin to better understand the Indigenous perspective, the courts will continue to be the only avenue for the resolution of differing views

Keywords

• resource development
• indigenous consultation
• indigenous resources
• indigenous engagement