Chris Sankey: 'Free, prior, and informed consent' never amounted to a First Nations veto
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I had a hard time accepting UNDRIP. It is extremely convoluted and the only real effect it has had is to line the pockets of lawyers and pit elected and hereditary leaders against one another. While not all lawyers are bad people, the UNDRIP process they attempt to fix has had an adverse affect on us. There does not appear to be a single professor, lawyer or consultant who can fully explain UNDRIP, because it was not tailored to meet the needs of Indigenous peoples in Canada. I can only hope the process will improve over time.
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It should thus be left up to Indigenous communities to lay out a process for industry and government that will satisfy them. What works for one community may not work for another. It's extremely complicated and it is not for the faint of heart. Once you understand the people, you'll understand the process and things will proceed apace. This is about executing strong relationships between our nations and country by building bridges that bring us together.
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I can tell you from experience that forging agreements between our communities is a massive undertaking. It has been my biggest challenge, but it is also the most rewarding. It's what motivates me to make change happen in our communities. It is stressful, even maddening at times, but every step forward that moves our people to a better place is a massive win. The satisfaction I get out of it is the hope that one day, my children will recognize that their dad played a small part in bringing our people together.
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Free, prior and informed consent isn't just about making money. It's about purpose with the intent to change the lives of our people for the better. We call it 'impact investing' and 'social innovation.' Investing in people should be a community's priority. This is about inter-generational knowledge transfer. When many of us are long gone, we will need the younger generation to help manage and sustain our communities' wealth, culture, arts, language, environment, finances, social well-being, health, education and infrastructure. In order to achieve this, our communities need vibrant economies.
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We can't build capacity without projects that provide opportunities for our people to learn new skills and provide for their futures. Grants and other funds given to us isn't an economy. Those who think otherwise only hurt the people they claim to represent. We need to do better, because our younger generation is moving away from their communities to find work, or commute long distances to make a living. Large resource and infrastructure projects provide an opportunity for Indigenous people to live and work in their own communities, and lift themselves out of poverty.
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Let's not jump to conclusions over Fraser's misinterpreted quote. We can't take offence at every comment. Doing so will only serve to hurt us. If the government and industry say they will consult Indigenous communities on major developments, then we need to open that door. If they don't follow through, then we must hold them accountable. But Indigenous communities also need to make sure they hire the right people — people who understand big business and major projects. If you don't hire the right people, your community will suffer the consequences and negotiations will fail. This duty falls on elected First Nations officials and their economic development offices.
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