David Parker has spent the better part of the past 20 years travelling throughout the Americas negotiating business deals with aboriginal groups. Today, he’s vice-president of sustainability at Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.A/TCK.B), B.C.’s largest mining company.
Even though the company has signed a number of pacts to work closely with aboriginal communities, he said friction still exists and most of it centres on consultation, as in who should do it and how much of it should be done.
“The duties to consult and accommodate First Nations actually rest with government. In reality, mine proponents carry out a lot of that work in order to move forward with their projects, which is fine because we need to be establishing the relationships that need to be maintained over the life of a project and beyond,” Parker said.
“But I think part of the frustration for First Nations people is law has changed, policy is changing, and there still isn’t enough clarity and capacity in First Nations in order to respond and be proactive in terms of resource development in their traditional territories.”
Check out the mining report in next week’s print edition of Business in Vancouver for more about Teck and aboriginal relations.