ABSTRACT
This chapter forms the counterpart to Chapter 6, exploring how the depth of consultation conducted with First Nations at the initial ‘planning’ stage of the regulatory process has permitted deployment of ‘weak’ eco-modernist philosophy at the subsequent ‘approval’ stage. In doing so, the chapter demonstrates that the limited participation of First Nations stems from the government’s use of narrowly conceived Treaty rights. Deploying a diluted interpretation of their content, a distinct lack of accommodation on policies and strategies, and a delayed triggering of the duty to consult on individual oil sands projects, Treaty rights have been realised in a manner which allows for the broad subordination of First Nation interests to those of government and industry. Building on this, the second half of the chapter identifies the influences exerted within the regulatory process to produce this disparity. It is at this point where the justifications offered by regulatory personnel, for facilitating the diluted interpretation, are examined, describing the way in which more structural characteristics common to settler-colonial societies influence the continuation of this process. Visible here is the presence of a ‘compound denial’, which refers to a justification offered for deviant organisational activity as expressed through various individual surface neutralisations, which are successful because they simultaneously draw upon a pool of broadly accepted background assumptions and deeper, societal disavowals. This underpins the ‘planning’ stage of the regulatory process, operating to ensure that First Nations do not meaningfully intervene in the ultimate provincial goal of industrial expansion. Taken together, these features quell dissenting voices and enable operationalisation of ‘weak’ ecological modernisation throughout the regulatory process, all under the rubric of ‘sustainable development’.
