In 2004, it was my band that started exploring LNG exports to the world, and it took seven years for the provincial government to agree with us. We imposed LNG exports on B.C. and Canada. We forced the Canadian government to understand this, in terms of imposing duties on goods coming into Canada for the export industry for LNG. We're the ones who went to government and said that we had to sign the agreement for forestry.
We're the ones who are imposing this now. I'm talking about the processes in terms of environmental assessments, and a bilateral process that could be there within the environmental assessment process or parallel to it.
You're addressing rights and title as dictated by case law, which was decided most notably in the 2004 Haida court case, which my band participated in. This fully explains not only the Crown's duty to address rights and title, including an economic component, which a lot of people forget, but it also includes the duty of first nations to respond. There is a role for a third party to play, especially the proponent.
This is what brought success to my people. This is why in northwest B.C., you don't hear many first nations complaining anymore about the Indian Act. You don't hear them complaining about poverty. I think this is the model that Canada should be looking at, because it's first nations driving the energy sector in B.C. We're the ones driving the forestry sector. We're bumping up mining as much as we can. The problem is the politics and the narrative in Canada. They refuse to listen to the story.
This has to be highlighted, because this includes no government money and no government policy.