Aboriginal communities to play increasingly crucial role in resource industries, new report says – Calgary Herald
August 18, 2015
Canada’s aboriginal peoples will play an increasingly crucial role in the resource industries and getting these relationships wrong will take a significant toll on the country’s competitiveness, warns a new report released Tuesday by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“No part of the economy is more affected by the evolving landscape of Aboriginal rights than the resource industries, if only for the simple fact that many of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples live in close proximity to resource projects,” said the report, Aboriginal Edge: How Aboriginal Peoples and Natural Resource Businesses Are Forging a New Competitive Advantage.
“Constitutionally-protected Aboriginal rights give Canada’s three Aboriginal peoples — First Nations, Métis and Inuit — a unique ability to influence how and where resource projects proceed. Aboriginal peoples are unwilling to trust governments to protect their interests and are deeply concerned about the impacts resource developments will have on their cultural and economic interests. There is a long history of cases where resource developments took place without proper consultation, damaging traditional lands and curtailing Aboriginal rights while providing few offsetting benefits.”
