Learning to Listen: Snapshots of Aboriginal Participation in Environmental Assessment

In today’s political environment, which is characterized by Canadian and international commit- ments to ensure more meaningful engagement of Aboriginal peoples in decisions about resource development, coupled with successful court challenges over the Crown’s failure to meet consul- tation requirements with Aboriginal peoples, Environmental Assessment has become more than a technical tool for predicting and mitigating a project’s impacts. Environmental Assessment is now on the front lines of conflict and reconciliation between Aboriginal peoples, governments, and resource developers. Project proponents, governments, and Aboriginal communities need to do more to get that assessment right.