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In her experience, projects where
companies share information early and
often, and demonstrate transparency,
move along faster and with fewer delays.
"Rather than doing what is expected as
far as meeting minimum requirements,
sometimes these expectations are out-
side of that. It is about assessing the risk
of a project going forward without a solid
relationship with First Nations."
Eagle knows that the key to building
that trust is to find out how the com-
munity likes to communicate. "Every
community is unique. Some will have
expectations to be shared in a commu-
nity meeting. Part of the relationship-
building is to find out this information
and how to communicate it."
First Nations people in the commu-
nity may be reluctant to share informa-
tion that might impact a project. But
if a company demonstrates trust and
transparency, then this information
may be more likely to be shared as the
project progresses.
Starting data collection early and
repurposing the information for specific
audiences is vital. While there is a ten-
dency to defer environmental studies to
subsequent mine development stages, an
early start has proven to be very effective
for technical progress, decision-making
and building community engagement.
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