First nations, corporate leaders meet to map out partnership blueprints
SHAWN MCCARTHY — GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
OTTAWA— From Monday's Globe and Mail
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Armed with new clout over development on their traditional lands, Canada’s aboriginal people are increasingly looking to be partners in energy and mining development.
At the same time, first nations groups are insisting on their right to reject projects that fail to provide real benefits or are too damaging to the environment – even if Canadian law does not give them a formal veto.
In Niagara Falls this week, Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, is co-hosting the first International Indigenous Summit on Energy and Mining, with his U.S. counterpart, Jefferson Keel, president of the national Congress of American Indians. The summit is a chance for corporate leaders from the energy and mining sectors – as well as financial institutions – to talk with native leaders and government officials about the opportunities for and challenges with first nations project partnerships.
The stakes are enormous, with virtually every major energy and mining project in Canada requiring consultations with native communities. And the potential for bitter disagreement looms large, given differing views on just how much control over the fate of the projects that the first nations communities should have.
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