Think-tank seeks policy advice for aboriginal resource development

A Canadian think-tank is touring the country to find out how government can help aboriginal people get the most out of resource development.

Commissioned by the Assembly of First Nations, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) has travelled the country for the past year and a half, talking to community and business leaders as part of the Aboriginal Canada and the Natural Resource Economy project.

The group was in Saskatoon on Wednesday to speak with 25 local leaders.
 
Rather than focus on what individuals and communities can do, panelist MLI Senior Fellow and Canada Research Chair Ken Coates said the objective of the discussions is to find out how governments can make laws to improve aboriginal engagement in the nation’s booming natural resource sector.

“We get from (community and business leaders) the best practices about what does and doesn’t work in Saskatchewan and hopefully coming up with policy ideas that will help shape the future of what is going to be one of the most vibrant sectors in the economy,” Coates, who is also a public policy professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said.

In his research paper “New Beginnings,” Coates said aboriginal communities are not outright opposed to resource development but rather to poorly supervised and environmentally damaging projects.
 
“Most Indigenous governments are open to properly managed resource activities that bring significant long-term benefits to their communities,” the report said, however adding that there is no one single policy that will solve first nation’s frustrations with the current state of development.

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“You’re never going to get everything done with one solution or one set of conversations. So we’re focusing on public policy,” he said.

Coates has previously voiced his support for expansion of aboriginal title to traditional lands because, he argues, it assures them “a proper and substantial place” in Canada’s resource development.

Coates added discussions such as theirs are usually limited to larger urban areas such as Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

“It’s absolutely clear to me, and it’s not just because I’m at the University of Saskatchewan, that it’s time for Saskatchewan to join in these national conversations in a big way,” he said.
 
Over the years, Coates said there has been a lot more collaboration and co-operation than previously thought, however, discussions and divisions over resource-revenue sharing, proper training and technological change remain.
 
Coates said there is no specific end date to their discussions and they will keep working until they think they’ve “exhausted their involvement.” The panel will be back in Saskatoon in the spring of 2015.

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