Attaining an Aboriginal community’s consent to a
development project should not be viewed as a line item on a to-do
list. Corporations that want to operate successfully in areas
subject to Aboriginal interests must therefore find new ways of
building or rebuilding relationships – and the first step is
developing mutual trust.
The Boreal Leadership Council (BLC) – a working group of
conservation organizations, indigenous peoples, resource companies
and financial institutions – has developed a framework
through which industry and government can engage indigenous
communities. The BLC has asked industry and government to implement
the idea of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) - the right of
indigenous peoples to offer or withhold consent to developments
that may have an impact on their territories or resources –
in other words, a veto power over resource development projects.
FPIC cannot exist where a people does not have the option to
meaningfully withhold consent.
