https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
The management of mining projects in Canada must be aware of the unique rights of the Canadian Indigenous groups. These rights, which have their basis in the Canadian Constitution and in various treaties, are protected by a judicially constructed “duty to consult” whenever a government action of decision that may impact these rights is contemplated.
The duty to consult may be triggered by any number of decisions in the mining context and might include the issuance of a permit or the approval of an environmental assessment, as examples. While the duty to consult is owed by the government, and not a proponent, it is well-established that the government may delegate various procedural aspects of its consultation obligations to a third party, such as a mining company.
Moreover, most mining companies also realize the overall benefit of constructive engagements with Indigenous groups (over and above helping the government meet its duty to consult). For these reasons, many operators have made the decision to consult early and often with the Indigenous Peoples on whose traditional lands they operate.
The aim of these engagements is typically to gain a social license to operate in the project area and to have a measure of Indigenous support to help strengthen the resolve of government decision makers that are called to make permitting and other decisions that impact Indigenous rights.
For the rest of this article: https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/featured-article/distributing-securities-to-canadian-first-nations-and-the-need-to-modernize-ni45-106/