Canada is weakening environmental safeguards and threatening relationships with the country’s First Nations in a mad rush to generate new resource-extraction developments. If steps aren’t taken quickly to bring First Nations onside with major projects, Canada should prepare for strained relations and a barrage of court injunctions and blockades with enormous power to slow industry.
Since the trade war began, the feds and governments of BC and Ontario have hastily proposed or passed bills to speed resource development, downgrading environmental protection in the process. And while all three governments still promise to meet Indigenous consultation requirements, none obtained buy-in from First Nations before the bills were presented.
They also made it clear that going forward, they want consultation to click along a heck of a lot faster. This decide-first, talk-later approach is not sitting well with First Nations whose territories bear most of the environmental risks posed by resource extraction.
The excuse for the development rush, of course, is the US tariff attack on Canada’s economy, which has hammered some of our key industries, such as steel production and automobile manufacturing. Fallout from the tariffs have raised fears of a recession, and it has been widely accepted among all levels of government that the fix is more development and a broader international trading base to lessen our dependence on the US.
On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney presented his blueprint for economic success — a bill with an expedited two-year approval timeline for major infrastructure projects deemed in the national interest. It calls for a new project preapproval process that massively weakens environmental impact assessments. Assessments could no longer form grounds to kill a project — instead they will be used to identify and mitigate environmental risks.
Backlash from the powerful Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was immediate. “The Assembly of First Nations remains deeply concerned about the lack of time and appropriate process to carry out the Crown’s consultation and consent obligations, especially given the potentially massive impact on the rights of First Nations,” AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in a statement. An emergency meeting is being scheduled for this week.
Similar bills in Ontario and BC have met with the same reaction. Ontario’s Bill 5 allows the province to ram through development in special economic zones with no regard for existing provincial or municipal laws or regulations. In particular, the Ontario government wants quick access to mining in the province’s mineral-rich north, known as the Ring of Fire.
The Chiefs of Ontario, which represents Ontario First Nations, were understandably insulted when Ontario passed the bill which they say abrogates treaty rights and ignores their environmental and social concerns. Grand Chief Abram Benedict said his organization was denied requests to discuss the bill during the planning stages. The government’s attitude seems to be “‘after the bill passing we’ll go consult,’ and that’s not how it works,” said Benedict, who wants the bill rescinded.
Two bills in BC that could bypass environmental assessments to expedite large infrastructure projects, including critical minerals mines, and renewable energy projects, drew criticism from some First Nations leaders and former NDP cabinet minister Melanie Mark, who is Indigenous.
Navigating the disparate interests of business and First Nations is no mean feat for any government. Big business has long argued that Canada’s slow, unpredictable project approval process is hampering economic progress. A study done by the C.D. Howe Institute, a conservative non-profit think tank, blames, in part, high regulatory costs and complex negotiations with several levels of government, including Indigenous governments.
The federal government has acknowledged delays are slowing Canada’s economy and in Budget 2023 promised to improve the efficiency of the impact assessment and permitting processes. But there is a big difference between streamlining an impact assessment process, bogged down by jurisdictional overlap, and defanging it completely.
In this supercharged building environment, everyone seems to be forgetting about the multiple court decisions upholding the rights of First Nations to be partners at the bargaining table. There are clear warning signs that recent government bills may be an overcorrection.
In BC, even the business-boosting provincial chamber of commerce spoke against the Infrastructure Projects Act because First Nations were not consulted at the outset. The failure could result in legal challenges, the chamber warned.
There are a few takeaways here that governments at all levels could take to heart before their experiments in deregulation end in court, protests and frustration. For reconciliation to be meaningful, it really should happen at the front end — anything less is insulting. And environmental protections should not be allowed to wax and wane with every change in government.
The former Conservative government of Stephen Harper took a wrecking ball to environmental protections, cutting spending on environmental research and monitoring, muzzling federal scientists and downgrading Canada’s commitment to lower carbon pollution by pulling out of the Kyoto Accord. Harper’s agenda gave birth to the Indigenous-led Idle No More movement which rolled out protests, blockades on rail corridors and highways in 2012 and 2013.
Trudeau’s Liberals reversed that trend, with enhanced species and habit protections, increased recognition of Indigenous rights and a suite of ambitious climate policies, some of which succeeded better than others.
Just as too much red tape should not be allowed to stagnate our economy, a trade war should not be used as an excuse to blast hard-fought environmental protections. Nor should it supplant reconciliation efforts and consultation with First Nations. There is a delicate balance to be had here, and we haven’t yet hit it right.
Comments
In hand with resource-extraction industries, governments are confident that they can buy off indigenous governments under the guise of "economic reconciliation". Events of the last decade have shown this strategy to be successful.
Many First Nations communities are underfunded and impoverished. Many sign benefit agreements under duress. Their signatures are coerced, not free.
Signing a Mutual Benefit Agreement (MBA) does not imply support. It's called "shut-up" money.
"For Robert Grandejambe, the information gap lies with the lack of Mikisew Cree membership meetings, especially in light of the pipeline purchase plan.
"'THE COMMUNITY IS ALREADY GETTING SHUT-UP MONEY FROM THE OIL INDUSTRY. They should be telling them to put that money into protecting the environment,' he said as he hauled in fish from Lake Athabasca to feed his sled dogs.
"Others, such as Rigney, believe it is already too late to protect the environment from oilsands ravages.
"'I just wish this river flowed south so all the people in Edmonton and Calgary would get this shit instead of us,' she said."
"'Nowhere else to turn': first nations inundated by oilsands projects face impossible choices" (The Narwhal, Jun 30, 2018)
"Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Chief Allan Adam said he is tired of fighting losing battles in regulatory hearings and the courts in an unsuccessful effort to protect his people.
"'We've been fighting industry for how long? And we've spent well over $1-million in court fees with nothing tangible in return. So what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to continue on fighting as a chief while others sit on the fence and say nothing and do nothing?
"'I don't want to do this. I didn't want to make this decision but I had no choice. I had to make sure my nation was protected, and that our people are going to benefit from it for the future.'"
"First Nation chief who opposed oil sands signs deal with Teck sharing benefits of bitumen expansion" (Globe and Mail, 2018)
"Deranger, an Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation member who worked closely with Chief Allan Adam for six years as he lobbied against oilsands developments said she has watched INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT WEAR DOWN INDIGENOUS OPPOSITION.
"Economic benefits agreements, with companies promising to transfer millions of dollars to First Nations, AMOUNT TO BRIBES, Deranger said.
"'The way we are allowing this to happen is absurd,' she said.
"'This is THE NEXT CHAPTER OF NEO-COLONIALISM. . . . They are saying in order for you to survive in the economic system we have imposed on you, you have to join us. There's no choice any more. The rights of industry and corporations have taken precedence over Indigenous rights.'
"The system is stacked against First Nations who have fought projects all the way through the courts, spending millions of dollars and years of research time, only to be told their rights don't matter, Deranger said."
"'Nowhere else to turn': first nations inundated by oilsands projects face impossible choices" (The Narwhal, Jun 30, 2018)
"I feel betrayed by the government and a system that has destroyed the spirit of my people" (National Observer, Apr 24 2018)
Eriel Deranger, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and executive director of Indigenous Climate Action:
… This is bigger than what Chief Adam has just said or done. This is a symptom of the neo-colonial agenda. My community, just like the other Cree, Dene and Métis communities that have stepped up in support of this atrocious industry, have been forced into a corner through years of concerted pressure by oil and gas companies in collusion with government to accept the tar sands as our fate.
"… Today there are 176 tar sands projects in Alberta (in operation, under construction, approved, in application, or announced). … All of this has lent to the degradation and contamination of the Athabasca Peace Delta and the communities that rely on it, paving the way for skyrocketing rates of cancer and other autoimmune and respiratory diseases.
"… For years, many of the communities did not have adequate resources, human or financial, to effectively intervene or raise concerns with project applications. This caused runaway development where projects were approved without due process or consultation with communities. Hence, the Alberta tar sands economy was born, without the consent or participation of Indigenous communities.
"Consultation practices have changed since development began in 1964, however, even when communities are consulted and raise concerns and rights violations, projects are still approved despite admissions of irreversible and adverse impacts on the people and the land…"
"B.C. chiefs say they don’t support Trans Mountain pipeline despite signing agreements" (APTN, Jun 11, 2018)
"Two First Nations chiefs who signed letters of support for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion say they don't truly support the project.
"Chief Robert Joseph of Ditidaht First Nation told the Tracking Trans Mountain team that he felt fighting the pipeline was futile.
"'At the end of the day, we are not really in favour of any pipeline, but we believe it's going to go through anyway,' Joseph said. 'They will not listen to anybody and that's the history of consultation with First Nations people … They consult and go ahead and do what they were going to do anyways.'
"… Joseph said he worried that if his nation opposed the project, they would be on their own if oil spills.
"He said the consultation process wasn't meaningful.
"'Even if it's the best consultation on the face of the earth, if they do what they were going to do anyhow, what's the point?'"
"Yale First Nation Chief Ken Hansen told APTN News that he wouldn't have signed the agreement if his band had any other financial options.
"'When I signed this deal, I felt a lot of shame.'" (APTN, Jun 11, 2018)
"...some First Nations said that they signed the benefit agreements or letters of support out of concern that, if they failed to do so, they risked getting nothing at all. Kyra Northwest, of the Samson Cree Nation, said 'You can oppose, but with the past government it (a proposed project) would get approved either way, so Samson Cree agreed just to be sure we would get something.'
"And Summer Ebringer, of the Enoch Cree First Nation agreed, 'The fear is that if you don't sign and it goes ahead anyway, you get nothing.'"
"This is the language of the powerless, of people with no leverage or bargaining power."
"Canada's climate future: Trudeau's toughest challenge" (National Observer, Feb 19 2018)
April Thomas, Canim Lake Band: "...the pipeline project is 'just another divide and conquer tactic that's been used on our people over and over again. The Government of Canada made our people so desperate. We have a housing crisis, a poverty crisis and they've made our people so desperate that they feel like they're obligated to sign these agreements because they think that's all they're going to get.'"
"Travelling the pipeline: Why the Secwepemc Nation is crucial for the Trans Mountain pipeline" (APTN, Apr 26, 2018)
"Stellat'en First Nation is not too far down the highway from the Wet'suwet'en — maybe a two-hour drive. Their main water source, the Stellaquo River, is polluted from the nearby copper/mineral mines — they can't drink from it or eat the fish. It's filled with arsenic. The chief, Arthur Patrick, told me there was nothing else for the band anymore, so they signed a Mutual Benefit Agreement with CGL, but he wasn't too happy to be involved — it just was what it was."
"The story of a pipeline and the communities in its path is a complicated one" (National Observer, Feb 13 2020)
After a B.C. FN community voted down a pipeline benefit agreement by a large margin, the Band council signed the deal anyway. Democracy in action:
"In 2015, the Nak'azdli (a First Nation two hours NW of Prince George) held a referendum on whether to enter into a benefit agreement with the province of B.C. for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, as well as the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline. Nearly 300 band members took part, with more than 70 per cent voting no."
"Benefits agreement asks First Nation to discourage members from hindering B.C. pipeline project" (CBC, Aug 09, 2019)
"Nak'azdli elected chief Alex McKinnon said 'it was the hardest decision of his life when he made the call to vote in favour of CGL.
"It was to break a tied vote among his council. The community was torn. It was years in the making. It kept him up at night, tossing and turning.
"He and his hereditary chief, Peter Erickson, said the Nak'azdli were 'backed into a corner' by the Province of B.C. and told to sign on, or they'll get nothing and it 'will happen anyway.'"
"The story of a pipeline and the communities in its path is a complicated one" (National Observer, Feb 13, 2020)
"Agreements signed between GasLink and the Indian Act chiefs contain a clause that the band council must quell dissent at the cost of the withholding of financial payments. No government can ensure this and no provincial or municipal government would be expected to sign such a travesty."
"Cuthand: First Nations are standing up for their land" (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Feb 15, 2020)
"The question of how to deal with projects such as Teck is complicated, especially given THE HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENTS BEING APPROVED DESPITE INDIGENOUS CONCERNS.
Matt Hulse, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation regulatory affairs coordinator: "People don't want the (Teck Frontier) mine to go ahead, but, because we have so little confidence in regulatory process, INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES ARE FORCED TO FIND WAYS TO BENEFIT FROM THE PROJECT to offset the impacts. There ISN'T ANY GOOD OPTION.'"
"'Nowhere else to turn': First Nations inundated by oilsands projects face impossible choices" (The Narwhal, 2018)
"Like many others in Fort Chipewyan, a tiny Alberta hamlet on the banks of Lake Athabasca, Rigney is conflicted because oil money forever changes the live-off-the-land lifestyle — and she blames governments and the oil industry for beating down indigenous opposition to oilsands projects to the point that buying in seems the only option.
'I could not believe that my community wants to be part of this pipeline. THEY HAVE FORCED US INTO A CORNER WHERE WE HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO TURN,' Rigney said sadly.
'Just think 100 years from now what this planet will look like. They are destroying the land.'"
"'Nowhere else to turn': First Nations inundated by oilsands projects face impossible choices" (The Narwhal, Jun 30, 2018)
"… For years, many of the communities did not have adequate resources, human or financial, to effectively intervene or raise concerns with project applications. This caused runaway development where projects were approved without due process or consultation with communities. Hence, the Alberta tar sands economy was born, without the consent or participation of Indigenous communities.
"Consultation practices have changed since development began in 1964, however, even when communities are consulted and raise concerns and rights violations, projects are still approved despite admissions of irreversible and adverse impacts on the people and the land…
Eriel Deranger: "I feel betrayed by the government and a system that has destroyed the spirit of my people" (National Observer, Apr 24 2018)
"'No room for fossil-fuel expansion': Grand Chief Steward Phillip clears the air on pipelines" (National Observer, January 22 2025)
… "Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action, felt Phillip's uncertainty regarding once clear-cut opposition reflects the 'economic hostage situation' facing Indigenous leaders. For Deranger, when economic disparities and hardships amplify, there's a sense that industry can become a lifeline.
"'The reality is that sometimes in positions of leadership, they become so bullied and put into economic hostage situations that it feels like they'd be better off working with the enemy to mitigate the harm,' she said.
"In Alberta, she's seen her own First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, cut deals with the then-NDP provincial government. Years later, those deals did not result in meaningful change, leading to the nation's current ramped-up vocal opposition and court challenges against the province and its energy regulator, Deranger said.
"It's why Deranger always holds compassion for leaders who look to industry for solutions. She thinks that colonial governments and industry create economic disparity and social crises and then only offer resource development as the way out of those crises.
"'It's hard for a person in leadership to see the disparity and the hardships of the communities, of our communities that are often caused by economic disparities and exclusion from economic development,' she said."
Canada in 2025.