Good morning,
I am pleased to be able to be here with you this morning.
I am going to switch to English, in the interest of time.
It will be a lot more pleasant if I proceed in English.
My presentation is going to focus on the aspect of your committee's study that examines how to ensure indigenous peoples and communities are meaningfully engaged in all stages of development, be it in minerals or in other sectors of the economy.
Canadian businesses and indigenous communities often work in positive and mutually beneficial partnerships on development projects. These development projects not only benefit the businesses, but they also benefit the indigenous communities through jobs, infrastructure, and the creation of new businesses, just to mention a few.
This collaboration is usually the result of early engagement, consultation, and, if appropriate, accommodation.
However, these partnerships can run aground when they are subject to the constitutional duty of the crown to consult with and accommodate indigenous peoples whose rights could be negatively affected by a development project.
As was mentioned by one of the witnesses in the previous panel, Canada's legal and regulatory stability is a competitive advantage to our businesses and attractive to prospective foreign investors. However, a glaring exception is the opaque approach of the crown to the execution of its duty to consult and accommodate. This is unacceptable, unfair, and potentially harmful to businesses, indigenous peoples, and the crown.
Governments can delegate the procedural aspects of their duty directly to businesses, usually by mandating consultation with indigenous peoples as part of the regulatory process.
The lack of a clear framework for if, when, and how this delegation can occur and for the roles of the crown, business, and indigenous peoples often causes confusion, and this can lead to projects being delayed and even being cancelled. When this happens, businesses and often indigenous communities lose, and so does Canada.
Last week the Canadian Chamber of Commerce released their report, “Seizing Six Opportunities for More Clarity in the Duty to Consult and Accommodate Process”. I believe the committee clerk has distributed the report to you. The report was the result of nearly a year of consultations with more than 90 business and indigenous representatives, legal experts, and government officials. It encourages the federal government, as the primary interlocutor between indigenous peoples and other stakeholders, to take the lead in adding more clarity to the process in six ways.
The first is by working with indigenous peoples and businesses as well as other levels of government to develop a consistent duty to consult and accommodate framework. We're not saying one size fits all; we're just asking for a consistent framework.
The second is by bringing indigenous and business representatives together to develop a framework for engagement that emphasizes building relationships prior to the discussion of specific projects.
The third is by demonstrating it has skin in the game by establishing an arm's-length mechanism to measure and report on the crown's performance of its constitutional duties to indigenous peoples.
The fourth is by showing its progress in its commitment to a new, respectful relationship with indigenous peoples. This includes addressing fundamental quality-of-life issues for indigenous peoples, such as clean drinking water, adequate housing, education, and health care.
The fifth is by assisting indigenous communities in building their capacity to review and assess development proposals, to accumulate access to capital so they can become partners in development projects, and to develop inventories of their skilled workers.
The final opportunity we identified is aimed at Canada's businesses. They know that their projects stand better odds of success if they regard engagement of and consultation with indigenous peoples as an investment rather than an expense. Indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge, relative youth, and proximity to project sites can be a definite competitive advantage. Project proponents also need to manage their relationships with the crown effectively and keep it updated on their engagement and consultation activities. It was the view of the people we spoke with that this would help reduce the number of last-minute surprises, surprises that can often be unpleasant.
As Canada fights to improve its economic foothold in the global economy, we can no longer afford internal disputes that delay and even terminate projects that improve not only our international competitiveness but also the quality of life of indigenous peoples and all Canadians.
Thank you once again for having given me this opportunity to be with you today.