First Nation Environmental Support Services

PGL is proud to have long standing relationships with First Nations across Canada. Our initial work was with Treaty 8, Tsimishian, and Coast Salish Nations. Our work with them continues to the present, but also thanks to their referrals and referrals their legal counsel, we now work with more than 40 other nations in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Yukon, and Nunavut. 

First Nations have a rich cultural heritage and a special relationship with the land and water, a relationship we respect with all our projects. We appreciate the importance that First Nations place on environmental sustainability, land use and community growth.

What We Do

We’re well experienced in working with communities and the federal government on First Nations’ lands. Our goal is to complete successful projects that meet both the community’s objectives and governmental requirements. We know to listen first and listen often. We also know that technical expertise is important, but communication is the key to informed decision making. 

Our work with First Nations’ communities has involved:

• Technical reviews of Environmental Assessments (EA), and inclusion of traditional values into consideration of effects
• Scoping and delivery of Indigenous-led Rights Impact Assessments
• Community based monitoring
• Managing lands and resources for the future
• Community planning for growth and development – including policy development and implementation
• Protecting fishing, forestry and hunting areas
• Training and capacity building
• Removing and replacing fuel storage systems
• Regulatory advice

Many of our most substantial projects with First Nation clients arise from consultation on major projects, usually through Environmental Assessments.

Environmental Assessment Reviews

Many Environmental Assessments (EAs) fail to address values commonly held by First Nations. A well-planned engagement can help prevent these errors, leading to better environmental management, protection of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights (a.k.a. Indigenous Rights), and community benefits.

As a front runner in the rapidly evolving field of EA, PGL focuses on the technical and regulatory aspects, interpreted according to the values and customs determined by our clients:

• The recent (2018 – 2020) evolution of federal Impact Assessment Act and the BC Environmental Assessment Act seek meaningful inclusion of indigenous values into EAs. These are changes that PGL has been incorporating into our work with First Nation clients for years already. We are progressive and creative about infusing our clients’ values and Rights into the interpretation of environmental impacts. 

• We have worked on multiple major project reviews in the Yukon under the Yukon Socioeconomic and Environmental Assessment Act (YESAA). We know the buried oddities for Designated Office Evaluations and Executive Committee Screenings. We also understand differences in that process for First Nation who have vs. do not have signed treaties through the Umbrella Final Agreement.    

We work with First Nations and their legal representatives to improve community participation in the regulatory review of major projects.  In addition to flagging the potential negative impacts, we identify benefits that could be included in an Impact and Benefit Agreement (IBA). PGL has also participated in negotiating and implementing environmental provisions of IBAs. 

PGL’s Approach

Our scientists and regulatory specialists work with land managers, leadership, and community members to provide advice on environmental concerns that members can trust. We listen first and listen often. We always start by developing an understanding of the unique community values, governance objectives, and cultural history. Our role and approach is designed each time to fit the needs of each First Nation client for the particular project under review. For some clients, PGL has helped First Nations to develop their own EA review process that parallels federal or provincial process.

We apply rigorous scientific analysis and thorough knowledge of government regulatory processes and policies to provide advice at each critical step. We filter out the key issues using our skills in EA best practices and environmental management. Sometimes we lead community meetings to scope environmental concerns and engage directly with regulators and project representatives. Other times we focus entirely on reviewing and commenting on the technical aspects of the project EA.

In all cases, our experts seek to understand the key First Nation issues and find solutions to these specific concerns.

Rights Impact Assessment

Over the past 10 to 15 years, EAs have slowly evolved from implicit to explicit assessments of a project’s impacts on the Indigenous (Aboriginal) Rights of affected First Nations. The term “Rights Impact Assessment” is increasingly used. This is a sensitive and contentious topic. Many different approaches have been tried, and there is no single standard approach to Rights Impact Assessment.

On numerous occasions PGL has worked with First Nations clients where a third-party (government or industry proponent) has submitted a Rights Impact Assessment that was written without direct participation of the indigenous community they are assessing. We have assisted our clients, often alongside legal counsel, in critically reviewing these third-party Rights Impact Assessments. 

We have also worked with our First Nations clients to directly undertake a Rights Impact Assessment, for a project proposed by some other company or government. There is no one single approach to doing this, and we enjoy brainstorming sessions with these clients. Depending on the customs of our clients, EA methods may not even be a suitable approach to discussing impacts on Rights. One thing we do understand clearly is that consideration of Indigenous Rights is holistic. Impacts must consider things such as:

• Connections between people and the environment associated with any Right require a holistic view of impacts. Activities that diminish the quality of an experience will impact Rights. Some of our clients have used the term “sense of place” as important consideration. 
• A Traditional Knowledge Study (or some variant such as Knowledge  and Use Study or Occupation and Use Study) is often just the starting point to a Right Impact Assessment. 
• The entirety of the experience for any activity-based Right must be understood. A Rights Impact Assessment must consider so-called “incidental” Rights. 
• The question of “land use” is far broader than many realize. Landmarks that have traditional names and stories associated with them are “used” regardless of how many human feet are currently on the ground in that location. 
• The importance of inter-generational transfer of knowledge. 
• The values of the community must determine the importance of an identified impact.

Clients

Some of the First Nation clients we have worked with include:

• St’át’imc Nation
• Stó:lō Tribal Council
• Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation
• Tsawwassen First Nation
• Tsheshat First Nation
• Tsleil Waututh First Nation
• Tsuut’ina Nation
• Wabauskang First Nation
• West Moberly First Nations
• Wuikinuxv First Nation
• White River First Nation
• Xwisten First Nation

Recent Projects

Some of the recent and ongoing projects that we have carried out with First Nations include:

• oils sands mining (SAGD)
• gas pipelines
• hydroelectric dam
• road construction
• pipeline spill assessment
• bitumen pipeline and tanker transportation
• liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities
• submarine gas pipelines
• gold mining
• coal export facility
• coal mining
• wind energy
• real estate development
• highway and bridge construction
• aggregate mining
• port expansion

Aboriginal Law Firm Clients

PGL has earned a solid reputation with law firms who recognize our rare combination of skills for providing services to First Nations – reliable technical expertise and strategic regulatory advice with a deep understanding of First Nation values.

We have collaborated with legal teams in support of EA panels and hearings, litigation, benefits negotiations, land management and economic development. Some of these firms are:

• Donavon & Co.
• Devlin Gailus Westaway
• JFK Law
• Mandel Pinder
• Miller Thomson
• Rana Law
• Ratcliff & Co.
• Woodward & Co.