The Legal Duty to Consult and Meaningful Consultation: A Spectrum of Industry Approaches to Aboriginal Consultation in the Athabasca Oilsands

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atmire.migration.oldid3108
dc.contributor.advisorFrideres, James
dc.contributor.advisorIngelson, Allan
dc.contributor.advisorJones, Vernon
dc.contributor.authorVredenburg, Vanessa
dc.date.accessioned2015-04-29T19:04:31Z
dc.date.available2015-06-22T07:00:44Z
dc.date.issued2015-04-29
dc.date.submitted2015en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis presents an in depth analysis of the factors that influence the way in which resource extraction companies in the Athabasca Oilsands region of northern Alberta conduct Aboriginal consultation. The duty to consult arose historically through constitutional foundations, case law, and now is incorporated into regulatory guidance documents. Although the duty to consult has been documented in many different ways throughout history, there is a current shift in consciousness that there is a need to go beyond compliance with legal and regulatory guidance to move towards gaining ‘social compliance’. A review of current literature relating to Aboriginal community and resource extraction company relationships, sustainable development, and gaining a social license show that by going beyond regulatory compliance towards social compliance, a competitive advantage can be gained. Two models were identified to measure the way in which resource extraction companies conducted Aboriginal consultation: the rules model and the relationship model. The rules model is based on the idea that by following regulatory guidelines, project approval can be gained. The relationship model is based on the idea that by establishing long lasting relationships with Aboriginal groups that these companies could not only reach regulatory guidelines but go beyond towards achieving social compliance. Eighteen Aboriginal consultation practitioners who worked on projects in the Athabasca Oilsands region were interviewed to better understand the way in which their companies approached Aboriginal consultation. The data was analyzed based on the rules and relationship model. Through analysis, it was determined that the way in which these resource extraction companies approached consultation was not as black and white as originally thought, but instead could be placed on a spectrum with the rules model being at one end and the relationship model being at the other end. The research determined that in conclusion, the main factor that drove the way in which Aboriginal consultation was conducted was firstly, managing regulatory risk, and secondly managing social risk. Regulatory risk can be much more easily managed, as it can be quantified, and penalties are well understood. Social risk on the other hand, is not as well understood; however, corporations are increasingly seeing the need to mitigate social risk by establishing long lasting relationships with Aboriginal groups who have some control over social risk.en_US
dc.identifier.citationVredenburg, V. (2015). The Legal Duty to Consult and Meaningful Consultation: A Spectrum of Industry Approaches to Aboriginal Consultation in the Athabasca Oilsands (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28232en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/28232
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/2172
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectSocial Structure and Development
dc.subject.classificationAboriginal consultationen_US
dc.subject.classificationDuty to consulten_US
dc.subject.classificationmeaningful consultationen_US
dc.subject.classificationOilsandsen_US
dc.subject.classificationFirst Nationsen_US
dc.subject.classificationsustainable developmenten_US
dc.subject.classificationsocial licenseen_US
dc.subject.classificationresource extractionen_US
dc.subject.classificationengagementen_US
dc.titleThe Legal Duty to Consult and Meaningful Consultation: A Spectrum of Industry Approaches to Aboriginal Consultation in the Athabasca Oilsands
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineInterdisciplinary Graduate Program
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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