Indigenous Negotiations

Strong, modern agreements with companies can generate substantial benefits for a Nation, while also protecting their lands and way of life. Our work includes Impact Benefit Agreements, Negotiation Agreements, Exploration Agreements, MOUs and other types of agreements.

Connect with Us

What We Do

We aim to help nations to negotiate strong, modern agreements with companies. We take direction from the Nation, often working alongside a strong community-based negotiator, and with community-based teams. Our work can be tailored to a variety of needs, from short training workshops to extensive community-based support in negotiations, to planning and support for the implementation of benefits. We also provide corporate and resource analysis as well as financial reviews.

Experience

Our multi-disciplenary team members have strong backgrounds in social sciences, resource management, economics, mining, and negotiations. We have experience working alongside Indigenous Nations on the negotiation and implementation of Impact Benefit Agreements in every region of Canada. Our work brings together research from many areas, including indigenous knowledge, ecology, and socio-economic analysis, to understand impacts and highlight opportunities and barriers.

Training

Firelight provides mentorship and guidance through all stages of the process of negotiating agreements with companies. This includes helping nations to define and build the processes that they need to successfully implement an agreement after it has been negotiated. We also provide training sessions and workshops on negotiation and implementation of agreements with companies. Often we use the Impact and Benefit Agreement Community Toolkit as a resource.

Contact

Lilith Wyatt - Indigenous Negotiations Program Manager

MA Environmental Education and Communication

Kingston, ON

Email: lilith.wyatt@firelight.ca Phone: (519) 829-6035

"We are supporting a chief negotiator working with many Nations in negotiations. It has been hard work, but unity among the communities has never fallen apart. It is incredibly moving to see the friendship and self-determination at the table. These strong relationships are also an outcome of the Impact Benefit Agreement process."

Dr. Ginger Gibson

Indigenous Negotiations Team Lead

Example Projects

IBA Community Toolkit

IBA Community Toolkit The IBA Community Toolkit is a free resource for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in Canada considering impact and benefit agreements (IBAs), specifically those with mining companies. While the Toolkit focuses primarily on the mining industry, many of the issues and processes addressed in the Toolkit are relevant to the making of agreements in other industry sectors and contexts, including protected areas, oil and gas, hydro and forestry. The goal of the Toolkit is to help communities, negotiators and consultants achieve positive agreements for Aboriginal communities. The Toolkit was authored by Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh (Griffith Business School) and Ginger Gibson (The Firelight Group).

Download

Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Emerging Practices of Indigenous-led Review.

The report is leading the way in identifying the strategic approaches Indigenous governments are taking as they lead their own major project assessments. By doing this, Indigenous governments are breaking ground, ensuring culture, language and way of life are central to the review of projects, and asserting their rights and responsibilities for environmental stewardship and land and resource decision-making in innovative and concrete ways.

The report, put together by The Firelight Group, is based on case studies from across Canada, is being released to participants from the eight member nations of the Arctic Council who are in Yellowknife this week for a Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council Workshop on “Best Practices in Arctic Environmental Impact Assessment”. It will inform their project that aims to identify best practice in environmental assessment.

Download