Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
So what's the negotiation point here.
Band - "WE don't consent we'll no pipeline"
Oil Company - "we'll pay you money"
Band - "How much"
Oil Company - "This much"
Band - "Not enough"
Oil - "Screw it, we're out, no money for you"
Band goes to the media - "evil oppressive oil company and government deny needed funds"
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Uh that’s literally been the last couple decades of negotiations with FN in BC. That is the gyst of it. You should see some of the stuff I’ve been a part of and / or heard about first hand. Some bands obviously worse than others. The Blueberry band in BC is actually notorious and one of the worst. Personally I’ve never dealt with them but I have heard from multiple people and the things I’ve heard are like out of a sitcom or something.
And GGG is absolutely and unequivocally right. This is a colonial issue in a modern world. Treaties 6, 7 and 8 are Alberta. They laid the groundwork for industry to move ahead with things on a much different playing field than in BC. They set standards and ground rules like, for example, if you’re a band near Lethbridge you can’t claim ancient heritage territory up in Zama and stop projects. But if you’re a band in Vancouver you sure can claim some ancestor of yours hunted up in Prince George some time ago and you need to be consulted with.
Edit- I should add/ many companies are willing to bring in FN groups as partners on projects and hire their people and pay them money. I’ve been involved in these negotiations. Again they work in Alberta because you’re dealing with the regional 4-5 groups but when the number of groups gets to like 30 and some bands refuse to work with other bands, like in Bc, but they’re both claiming heritage lands and you have to deal with them... you’re kinda screwed even if you were willing to hire them. Many times this has less to do with greed and more to do with band politics. Oh yeah and then you get the council elections every two or three years. So whatever deal you made at the beginning with bands 1-6 now need to be potentially renegotiated if you’ve taken too long to sort through this #### show.
Trust me- it’s a disaster up there. You can’t appease everyone on a project. That’s been known since humans were making projects.