First Nations have just as much interest in seeing major development projects that benefit our communities go ahead as industry and government
Last week, Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized for saying that the duty to consult First Nations on infrastructure projects “stops short of a complete veto.” The apology came in response to a letter from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who expressed concern about plans to fast-track infrastructure projects, citing the principal of “free, prior, and informed consent” enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
For decades in this country, Indigenous rights have been trampled upon and trust has been lost. Years of negligence has caused our people not to trust the process and to second guess commitments made by government and industry.
In other words, the trust factor is a huge undertaking for our people when it comes to development in our territories. Not only is there difficulty trusting government and industry, trust between neighbouring nations is extremely challenging, as well.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/free-prior-and-informed-consent-never-amounted-to-a-first-nations-veto