Understanding Aboriginal participation in northern environmental assessments: the case of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project

This project examines Aboriginal participation in northern environmental assessment processes through the study of Aboriginal public participation in the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project. To identify factors limiting individual-level Aboriginal participation in this environmental assessment, a program evaluation of the Joint Review Panel’s public participation initiatives and a study of the impacts of five contextual factors were conducted. The results of this study reveal four key process deficiencies which may have contributed to limited individual-level Aboriginal public participation in the Joint Review Panel proceedings; namely, deficiencies in respect of cultural compatibility, resource accessibility, point of involvement, and process clarity. This research also indicates that the over-lapping factors of socio-economic status, social relationships, consultation fatigue, Euro-Canadian colonialism, and relevance may have further constrained Aboriginal public participation in this environmental assessment. Recommendations for improving individual-level Aboriginal participation in northern environmental assessment processes are formulated based upon these research results.