Aboriginal stakeholder engagement manual stresses partnerships, consultation
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 -- Craig Anderson
With the release of its “Aboriginal Engagement and Sustainability” document, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility is highlighting the importance of stakeholder engagement as a business driver and method for meaningfully communicating with communities affected by corporate activity.

“This document reflects the incredible importance of engaging with Aboriginal people, one of the most visible stakeholder groups,” says Andrew Frank, communications coordinator for CBSR. “They have a great claim on this country and they are part of the Canadian story. This document shows how partnerships are the cornerstone of sustainability.”

The idea to release a compendium of case examples and best practice stakeholder strategies grew out of the Feb. 2005 conference “Building Sustainable Relationships: Aboriginal Engagement and Sustainability Conference,” which was sponsored by CBSR.

The conference melded together industry leaders (primarily from the “extractive” resource sector), government representatives, members of Aboriginal communities, and NGOs.

The release of the document comes during a period where there has been a lull in reporting successful Aboriginal engagement initiatives, says Frank.

“We had an absence of fresh examples,” he adds. “Another important thing is that if companies are engaging in new, sustainable ways it makes for good business sense.”

The document focuses on specific partnership case studies, including a thirty year relationship between Syncrude (the world’s largest producer of crude oil from oil sands) and the Fort McKay First Nation, who are located in the heart of the Athabasca Oil Sands, the world’s largest proven oil deposit.

The relationship, which the company labeled “The Aboriginal Development Program” was launched in 1974, four years before any oil was produced. At the 2005 conference, Jim Carter, CEO of Syncrude, presented the company’s perspective on the relevance of stakeholder engagement. The presentation was mediated by Dave Tuccaro, a member of Fort Chipewyan’s Mikisew First Nation, and CEO of five companies supplying and serving the oil sands project. Chief Jim Boucher spoke on behalf of the Fort McKay First Nation.

Speaking about the role of involving stakeholders in resource development, Carter explained that communities affected by extractive processes have a right as equal partners in the benefits of development.

“Even before Syncrude began producing oil in 1978, we knew that Aboriginal people are integral stakeholders in the development of oil sands. Not only do they have a right to be consulted about decisions that could impact them, they also have the right to share in the soci-economic benefits created by your operation.”

Boucher and Carter both credited the work of the Athabasca Tribal Council in developing First Nation’s policy on issues related to development as well as in negotiating with industry. The ATC helped to create 1,200 new jobs in the area and authored the ATC All Parties Core agreement in Jan. 2003, which was signed by five tribal chiefs, seventeen industry leaders and three levels of government.

The agreement guaranteed funding for a dedicated Industry Relations Corporation for each of the five First Nations. These organizations were established as consultant forums with industry and were set up to assist in building self-sustaining communities.

Building partnerships and sustainable communities is the cornerstone of the 130 page “Aboriginal Engagement and Sustainability” document. The document stresses the importance of respecting Aboriginal goals, aspirations, self-determination, and right to land claims.

Under the heading “Effective Engagement Tools,” the document, following knowledge gleaned from case studies examined at the conference, identifies recurrent thorough consultation – prior to company planning – as the linchpin device in successful stakeholder engagement.

Building internal capacity for stakeholder engagement – the company’s staff have to be involved in workshops, surveys, mentoring etc. – is the second primary component.

From a company’s perspective, says Jamie Bonham, Senior Research Lead at CBSR, stakeholder engagement is a sound strategy if fully responsive to the needs of stakeholders.

“[T]hose companies that can engage with their stakeholders on a real level are able to build the trust that is required to gain their license to operate. And those companies that can build that trust are able to gain a huge advantage on their competitors. It is hard to make everyone happy, but as long as the company shows that it is listening and responding to feedback, it can gain from the process,” he says.