Although many major projects have failed to progress due to
unsuccessful Aboriginal consultation efforts, recent court cases on
the Site C dam in BC have at last provided clear guidance for
carrying out a successful Aboriginal consultation process.
Among the (many) struggles endured by project developers in
Canada, one of the most significant has been to design a
consultation process with Aboriginal peoples that can pass muster
with Canadian courts. For almost a generation, the courts have
offered only the most general, abstract and ethereal guidance.
Recently however, various courts have reviewed the highly
controversial and visible Site C consultation process and after
detailed analysis, have universally declared the process followed
in that case to be sufficient.1 Although these decisions
have been at the trial and appeal level – the Supreme Court
of Canada has just reviewed the record and declined to over-rule
the lower courts.
