The Interface betweeen Environmental Assessment and Corporate Responsibility: The Victor Diamond Project

The environmental assessment and sustainable development literature recognizes that the environmental assessment (EA), EA follow-up and voluntary corporate responsibility aspects of natural resource project management—referred to as the project management continuum, or PMC—are prone to problems of process inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Timeliness, consistency and sustainable development capacity are of particular concern. This research examines the efficiency and effectiveness of the PMC for the Victor Diamond Project (Victor) in Ontario. Results indicate that the effectiveness and efficiency of Victor’s PMC was compromised due to: (1) omission of non-biophysical socioeconomic impact assessment; (2) low trust within First Nations toward governments and industry; (3) insufficient baseline information, and (4) the absence of formalized regional planning to identify and integrate regional development needs prior to the EA. To overcome these obstacles, federal and provincial governments should engage in targeted regional land-use planning and sustainability assessment, including the assessment of non-biophysical socioeconomic impacts.