Pacific Link consultations: B.C. chiefs urge Ottawa to set national standards for Indigenous reviews

The Story

First Nations leaders in B.C. are calling on Ottawa to set national standards for Indigenous consultation on major projects, saying they were given just 11 working days to review and engage on whether the proposed Pacific Link pipeline should be designated as a project of national interest.

Farrell, the CEO of Canada’s Major Projects Office, made the comments Wednesday at the B.C. Assembly of First Nations annual general meeting in Vancouver.

The Pacific Link pipeline, proposed to run from Alberta to B.C., was named a project in the national interest on Oct. 1 by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

While the national interest designation does not remove the government’s obligation to consult First Nations on the project’s impacts, the designation is intended to allow required reviews and consultations to be completed over the next year so construction can begin next September.

Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc Chief Rosanne Casimir, who presented the call for national consultation standards, said the current process requires First Nations to review thousands of documents under tight timelines and with limited funding.

Casimir said consultations were difficult because “meaningful consultation is difficult when nations, communities, are still trying to understand the project while decisions are continuing to move forward,” noting Canada took nearly a month to respond and leaving 11 working days for review and engagement.

Farrell said she agrees that consultation is key for project success, and acknowledged concerns raised by the meeting.

She also told delegates that her office has “very, very big scars” from work on projects such as Trans Mountain, and said those experiences showed the need for deeper Indigenous consultation on major projects.

Shana Thomas, hereditary chief of the Lyackson First Nation, said their concern was not efficiency but whether the speed and certainty for proponents are being advanced with protections equivalent to those required for Aboriginal title and rights.

The Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said staff in the Major Projects Office do not understand how to work with First Nations communities and that “junior staffers” are not helping build relationships, adding that Farrell has been unavailable to meet with leadership including at Assembly of First Nations gatherings.

Farrell responded that in the closed-door meeting Wednesday the only way she knows how to do her work is “to not talk very much,” saying she feels a responsibility to ensure projects meet consultation standards and adding that she cannot be “on planes” to go anywhere.

The federal government’s Privy Council Office said in an emailed statement last week that the Major Projects Office works closely with Indigenous communities and that senior officials make themselves available to meet with communities when asked.

At the same meeting, First Nations chiefs also passed a resolution calling on Carney to halt progress on the Building Canada Act and to repeal Bill C-39 if it passes in Parliament.

They said the legislation would fast-track approvals for major projects, cut review times and create zones of “national interest” intended to pre-approve certain types of projects. Their warnings include that approving and building projects without free, prior and informed consent risks ending up in court, as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.