Canada

Alexander believes the premier’s plan could have the opposite effect, potentially triggering more court cases from First Nations and thereby creating more uncertainty for resource extraction and other industries in the long run, while also damaging the province’s relationship with First Nations.

“People have very fragile trust in the government of the day, but when they so intentionally change legislation to ensure that there’s no objective party reviewing how they perform reconciliation, it seems very insidious.”

This year, B.C. passed legislation to fast-track the North Coast transmission line, renewable energy projects and yet-to-be-defined “provincially significant projects.” The B.C. government admitted it had not fulfilled its consultation obligations before introducing the legislation, which many First Nations forcefully criticized.