In recent years, the relationship between the Alberta government and the First Nations has become increasingly acrimonious. The media regularly report the negative reactions of First Nations communities to government policies and initiatives and their concerns with the impacts of resource development on their communities, notably their health and way of life. The multiplication of legal challenges to resource development in the province is attributed to increasing frustrations among First Nations with the lack of meaningful input into government policy and decision-making processes on land and resource development. This report explores some of the reasons for this deteriorating relationship between Alberta First Nations and the provincial government. We focus on the issue of Aboriginal consultation and accommodation, which is one of the most contentious in that relationship.
Alberta first released a First Nations Consultation Policy in 2005. It was the government’s first attempt to fulfill its obligations to First Nations under the duty to consult and accommodate doctrine. On August 16, 2013, this Policy was replaced with The Government of Alberta’s Policy on Consultation with First Nations on Land and Natural Resource Management, 2013. As was the case with the 2005 Policy, the initial reactions of Alberta’s First Nations to this updated Policy have been mostly negative.
The first part of the report examines the relevant legal framework of Aboriginal consultation and accommodation, at both the domestic and the international levels. The second part focuses on Alberta’s approach to consultation and discusses both the process of developing the 2013 Policy and the Policy itself. The third part of the report is a critical analysis of Alberta’s approach to Aboriginal consultation, from the formulation of the 2013 Policy to the Policy itself. It focuses on the new Aboriginal Consultation Office and reviews two legislative initiatives that directly affect the consultation process. It offers suggestions for best consultation practices, based on the First Nations’ advice to government and on a comparative analysis of consultation policies in other jurisdictions.