Canada's Aboriginals Seek Industry Partnerships

摘要

The long-running battle between Canada's First Nations. aboriginal groups and companies who seek to extract resources and build pipelines on their ancestral land may be undergoing a sea change, according to Phil Fontaine, three-term national chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations. Speaking at the Oil and Gas Summit in Calgary last week, Fontaine said there's been a "seismic shift in attitude" from resource-oriented companies since the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that Canada's aboriginal people have control over their ancestral lands (NGW Jun.30'14). After decades of struggle for Canada's First Nations to defend their rights. Fontaine said industry now understands it must "consult meaningfully" with native people, in bringing about economic development — but only on mutually agreeable terms.