The Key to Successful Engagement
It’s rare to open the paper or watch the news without finding a story about conflict between the resource industry and Aboriginal communities. Witness the anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick, the escalating disagreement about Alberta’s oil sands, the disputes over hydroelectric dams, and the controversy over proposed pipelines through Aboriginal territory in B.C.
Potential mining operations such as Taseko’s Prosperity Mine project are also in question because of unresolved conflict with Tsilhqot’in communities.
However, engagement consultants Dan George and Keith Matthew stress that it doesn’t have to be this way.
George is a member of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, and is the president of Four Directions Management Services Ltd., a company specializing in engagement, negotiation and communication between resource industries and Aboriginal communities.
One of his key projects currently is facilitating agreements between liquid natural gas companies and local First Nations communities.
Matthew is a former chief of the Simpcw First Nation, and has been part of many notable negotiations between mining and exploration operators in his home territory and elsewhere. He is also currently on the board of advisors for Yellowhead Mining.
Both George and Matthew believe that while many operators have been getting it wrong, there are ample opportunities to get it right in a way that benefits both First Nations and industry—but it begins with industry taking steps to build positive relationships that open the door to greater understanding and communication.
“I wish companies would think of First Nations as a business imperative and not a business impediment,” said George.
Many Aboriginal communities are open to managed development within their territory, or at least to understanding the impacts and benefits. George spoke of some of the difficult social and economic situations on reserves across Canada, the bulk of which can be traced back to both poverty and cultural disconnection. And as economic situations become increasingly dire in these communities, Aboriginal people must move away from their home territory to find employment, which increases the disconnection in both the individuals who leave and the communities they leave behind.
“If we have a healthy, vibrant, prosperous community, maybe some of our young people will move back home and contribute to the Nations they come from,” said George.
So recognizing that there are benefits to both community and industry, how can meaningful partnerships be created and maintained? George recalled a story of a skilled negotiator who understood that building a relationship took precedence over finalizing a contract.
“On his first visit to the community, he went fishing,” said George. “On his second visit, he went hunting. On his third visit, he participated in a community sweat. In his fourth visit, he participated in a community function—a wedding. Suddenly, a year had gone by and the chief looked at him and said, ‘we better get a deal going.’”
This approach demonstrates the potency of sincere efforts to build relationships with Aboriginal communities. This sincerity remains a powerful filter when companies approach George looking for engagement advice. His primary concern in these early conversations is to understand the motivation of the operators and their commitment to getting it right. Regardless of his advocacy for the energy industry, his first allegiance is to his elders and community. So his first question to potential clients is whether or not they’ve done their homework: do they know the First Nation communities they need to engage with? Do they know the territory? The tribal affiliations? The leadership? What George is looking for is proof that the operators are serious about engaging.
“If you do those things, it doesn’t guarantee success, but it sets the conditions for success,” he said.
Negotiation of economic benefits is vital, said Keith—knowing what the community is going to receive in terms of financial and/or educational benefits and how an agreement will impact Aboriginal title and rights. But just as or more importantly, in building relationships, operators begin to understand the importance of the Aboriginal worldviews—the traditional ways of knowing, being, seeing and doing. Within this worldview is the understanding that First Nations people are in relationship with their territory and everything within it, and they take their responsibility to the land very seriously—and that responsibility is not abdicated simply by offering large sums of money as compensation.
“A lot of our people still live off the land,” said Matthew. “We hunt. We fish. We conduct our spiritual activities on the land. So the environment is always the key and that’s what the First Nations community is going to grill you on because they have to live with it. The company doesn’t have to live with it—we do.”
That said, the responsibility for successful engagement doesn’t rest solely with the operator. Keith said that successful business partnerships between industry and First Nations require both sides to come to the table.
I think a big part of the problem is in educating First Nations about the mining industry and major projects in general,” said Keith. “What I see happening in some of our communities is they have very, very limited capacity in dealing with mining or oil and gas. When you don’t have capacity, knowledge, economic development or an engagement strategy around development… the default position is to say no. And that doesn’t do anything for industry, and it doesn’t do anything for those First Nations.”
This was an important consideration for Matthew when he was Chief of the Simpcw First Nation. It was his contention that by understanding the goals and processes involved in mineral exploration and mining, the community would be better able to make an informed decision about how they could participate as partners in development. More importantly to many members of his community, they could see these partnerships as still being in step with their traditional teachings.
“The Old Ones sent Coyote to us,” said Keith, referring to his people’s creation stories. “Coyote’s a mythological character but he’s real in our minds. Those stories talk about Coyote taking a lot of different forms and adapting to the current situation and there’s a lot of value in those teachings today. We need to embrace those creation stories that tell us that to be healthy and happy and all of those good things, we need to adapt and change.”
George agreed that there is greater room for exploration of opportunities when First Nations communities understand that mining, resource and economical development, and environmental protection do not have to be either/or scenarios. Energy, he said, is the most important conversation of our time and we need to get it right. Communities and environmental groups that refuse to engage in the dialogue keep the conversation from advancing to one where everyone can benefit.
“We’re in a global economic footrace running against a global economic headwind and most of these opportunities have a limited shelf life,” he said. “Imagine how we could change the conversation if we moved from ‘no’ to ‘how?’”
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