Towards a new supraregulatory approach to environmental assessment in Northern Canada

Abstract

In some jurisdictions in northern Canada, co-managed environmental assessment (EA) processes, such as that of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB), have been adopted. In these same jurisdictions, Aboriginal communities are increasingly negotiating private agreements with mining project proponents as a means of managing impacts and ensuring that local communities secure benefits from the developments. This paper offers a formal assessment of the MVEIRB EA process, to determine whether the rise of private agreements might be attributable partly to deficiencies in the EA process. While the MVEIRB EA process excels in its use of traditional and local knowledge, and its fair and rigorous decision-making process, significant deficiencies remain, as the EA process does not adequately consider benefits, provide project-specific follow-up, or build trust and capacity among stakeholders. We argue that these deficiencies help to explain the rise of supraregulatory agreements; we suggest further research to assess their effectiveness for achieving positive outcomes.

Keywords:

• environmental assessment
• impact
• benefit agreements
• Mackenzie Valley
• Northwest Territories
• mining
• sustainability