The legal, customary and asserted rights of First Nations peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources is recognized and respected.
Core requirements
a) Meaningful Consultation & Engagement
i. The applicant, or those employed or engaged by the applicant, have a good working knowledge of the affected First Nations communities, their legal and customary rights and their interests related to their cultural heritage and the region in which the aggregate extraction operations occur
ii. The applicant has taken steps to ensure that affected First Nations communities are reasonably informed of proposed or ongoing aggregate extraction activities including:
- Notification and consultation with affected First Nations including but not necessarily limited to requirements under the Aggregate Resources Act and Planning Act, consistent with the Consultation Protocol list of the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
- Providing information on the nature of proposed activities in a timely and comprehensive manner and in an understandable form and language
- If requested, helping ensure access to independent technical advice is provided to assist First Nations communities in the collection or interpretation of information and to participate in the process
b) Capacity Building and Sharing of Economic Benefits
i. The applicant is pro-active in providing opportunities, where available, for long-term economic benefits (ie. employment, training, summer jobs for youth, using aboriginal contractors or services, etc) to local First Nations communities where they operate
c) Identification & Conservation of Cultural Values
i. Before any aggregate extraction activities begin, consultations have taken place with interested and affected First Nations communities to identify any areas of cultural or spiritual significance
ii. The applicant has a process in place with the First Nation communities that addresses information sharing, protection, mitigation and/or impact benefit agreements, and confidentiality measures for First Nations traditional values and uses for each stage of the aggregate extraction process.
iii. The applicant supports the efforts, commensurate with the scale and intensity of the operation, of the interested affected First Nations communities to monitor the impacts over time of resource development on the values identified in the First Nations areas of concern.
iv. Where First Nations communities have indicated that resource development activities on particular sites are creating a threat of serious environmental, economic, or cultural impact, the applicant addresses if and how activities can proceed until disputes are resolved. Examples of serious threats could include:
- Destruction of or encroachment upon burial sites, spiritual and historic sites, spawning areas, medicinal areas;
- Demonstrable disruption of livelihood of First Nations people;
- Damage or loss/reduction to First Nations community water supply; and,
- Demonstrable disruption of food chain to the First Nations community.
Interpretation Note:
The intent of the requirements under Principle 3 is that the applicant engages with the legally recognized governing body for each affected aboriginal community and that not all elements or groups within a community be a party to negotiations. Generally, discussions should be with federally recognized Treaty holding Bands and the closest culturally affiliated Nation to any First Nations cultural heritage site. The requirements in Principle 3 are also not meant to replace or be in violation of any requirements that the applicant may be subject to under the Aggregate Resources Act, Planning Act, Ontario Heritage Act, Cemeteries Act, Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2010) or Environmental Assessment Act with respect to consultation with Aboriginal communities.