Natural Resource Collaborative Agreements in Canada and the role it plays in the Ring of Fire development

Abstract

Natural resource development in Canada has an evolving relationship with Indigenous people, due to developing jurisprudence over Indigenous land rights. Caught in a jurisdictional struggle, between the federal and provincial government, the natural resource sector and Indigenous people are finding themselves more often in relationships through the form of a natural resource collaborative agreement or Impact Benefit Agreement. As such, natural resource development is multifaceted and constantly changing. Many natural resource agreements with Indigenous people, address the adverse effects of the resource development activities on Indigenous communities, with the view of providing accommodation through financial compensation or other benefits as compensation such as education, training, infrastructure development or employment. This paper examines the general structure of an Impact Benefit Agreement and compares it to nineteen collaborative natural resource agreements between First Nation communities and governments, and one agreement between a First Nation community and a proponent, to ascertain which benefit structure will be more valuable for the future mineral development, the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire, located in northern Ontario, is a sizable chromite mineral deposit estimated to have 100 years worth of chromite within. Through a comparative chart and analysis, it is determined that multiple correlating agreements can be successful in providing multiple benefits, for larger natural resource developments.