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Chevron, Kinder Morgan Canada and
Trans Canada. His role has mainly been
helping indigenous leaders with the rig-
orous task of informing their member-
ship about projects and gaining consent
to sign agreements.
It's an even bigger challenge when
First Nations haven't resolved inter-
nal con•icts such as who can speak for
the broader membership, Beaton says:
"Something I've seen over and over
again is that nations really need to solve
their governance issues before they're
able to take on controversial decisions."
But these problems are complex and
take time and money to …x.
† Beaton says he's tried to convince
the federal and provincial governments
and the ener‡y sector to fund the kind
of comprehensive community engage-
ment required to reach consent, but so
far, he's come up empty. "They don't
understand that when an elected chief
signs on behalf of hereditary chiefs in
a place where they have not OK'd that,
where the nation has not said yes, that
causes an incredible amount of con•ict,"
he observes. "And that directly impacts
that project."
†To avoid community in…ghting and
ensure that resource projects go ahead,
Beaton says there must be engagement
that gives every member of the band a
chance to have their voice heard by the
leadership.
†Beaton estimates that an e‹ort result-
ing in an informed vote costs between
$300 to $400 a member for communi-
ties smaller than 500 and $80 to $250 a
person for larger ones. This can add up
to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It
seems expensive, but for megaprojects
TREVOR JANG JULY/AUGUST 2017 BCBUSINESS 65
A BETTER WAY
Consultant Jacob Beaton
says industry and govern-
ment can achieve project
certainty by providing fund-
ing to help First Nations with
governance problems
"What they have to realize about First Nations
reserves is…there's one family in power, and then
everyone else has no say in what's going on. What
they should do if they really want to make sure
that they have informed consent when the vote
happens, is they need to identify the individuals
that don't have a say and sit down with them"
— Andrew Genaille, Peters First Nation
