Thank you for the question.
We are indeed talking about consultations before, during and after project implementation. Beforehand, when a project plan is in development, the neighbouring communities and indigenous women should be consulted about the right to free, prior and informed consent. It's also important to make sure that everything is consistent with their values and that the development is culturally appropriate.
During project implementation, things don't necessarily always go as planned. In any development project, as with other areas, changes or other events can happen at any time. It's therefore important to monitor the situation. We need to ask what happened after the project launch that led to what's happening now, to how things are going, and whether the initial commitments are being acted upon.
Once a project is under way, it needs to be re-evaluated. This means determining whether the initial commitments are still being acted upon. When a decision is made to launch a project, everything might look wonderful and perfect, and appear to be proceeding as expected, but in reality, once it's in progress, human rights are violated, women are subject to violence, and the environment and natural resources are not respected, contrary to what was in the initial agreement.
It's therefore truly important to ensure that indigenous populations, experts, representative organizations, and the communities themselves, are involved from the start of the project to the end, on ongoing basis. The honour of the Crown and consent are violated when there is only token consultation with the community. They say that it's been done, in order to tick that box, but it has only symbolic value.
That's what we don't like. It's happening today in all the development projects around the world. The situation has a direct impact on indigenous populations. It's most unfortunate that constitutional law recognizes it without really delivering on the promises.