MLTC Hosts Gathering Of Duty To Consult Experts

MLTC Hosts Gathering Of Duty To Consult Experts

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 15:08

Governments’ duty to consult and accommodate First Nations about development on traditional territory is front and centre in Meadow Lake this week.

The Meadow Lake Tribal Council is hosting a two-day conference on the topic, beginning today.

Several experts have been called in to give their legal interpretation of the duty to consult.

As well, delegates will hear about environmental monitoring of projects and the impact benefit agreements.

The duty to consult issue was front and centre in a dispute earlier this year that saw a member First Nation of the MLTC erect a blockade to prevent an oil sands exploration firm from continuing its work on the band’s traditional territory.

The Clearwater River First Nation’s roadblock near La Loche eventually came down, but relations between the band and the Oilsands Quest remain strained.