With regard to the Prime Minister's instructions, in his mandate letter to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, that the latter should implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): (a) is it the government's policy to “consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources”; (b) is it the government’s policy to adhere to the principles of the UNDRIP before it is formally implemented; (c) given the Site C Clean Energy Project’s expected impacts on Aboriginal people, is it the government’s policy to (i) meet with the affected First Nations to hold discussions on treaty infringements, (ii) review the original decision to approve the Site C project, (iii) hold approvals and authorizations until a time when free, prior, and informed consent has been obtained; (d) is it the government's policy that the principle of free, prior, and informed consent will apply with respect to the approval of future pipeline and resource-extraction projects; (e) by what standard does government policy interpret the principle of free, prior, and informed consent; and (f) is it the government’s policy that the principle of free, prior, and informed consent shall apply with respect to the approval of projects under Interim Measures for Pipeline Reviews, and specifically to (i) Trans Mountain Expansion Project, (ii) Energy East Project?
In the House of Commons on March 21st, 2016. See this statement in context.