Tag: duty to consult

Supreme Court of Canada clarifies duty to consult

The Supreme Court of Canada shed new light on the Crown’s constitutional duty to consult with Aboriginal communities and clarified the role and obligation of decision-making bodies in two separate decisons that has the potential of providing greater predictability for natural resources companies seeking regulatory approval.

In companion decisions, the nation’s highest court handed mixed results to Inuit and First Nations groups who challenged decisions by the National Energy Board (NEB), a regulatory agency.

Federal and provincial governments need to demonstrate “stronger engagement” towards duty to consult, says UN panel

Federal and provincial governments “need” to demonstrate a “stronger engagement” towards conducting meaningful consultations with indigenous communities, according to a United Nations working group on business and human rights.

The duty to consult takes on added weight given that extensive mining and oil and gas extraction in several indigenous territories is “accompanied” by significant adverse environment impacts that affect the right to health, added the UN panel.