ABSTRACT
Using free, prior and informed consent as a framework for analysis, this chapter explores issues related to the communities involved in Indigenous-industry agreements by relying on the particularly poignant experience of the Métis. A major issue that Indigenous-industry agreements encounter is the identification of the Indigenous party to the agreement. This chapter analyzes bases for identifying the Métis rights-holder for the purposes of consultation and consent. It argues that the Métis Nation of Ontario has developed an approach to consultation and that approach ensures that the Métis Nation of Ontario's consent to Indigenous-industry agreements is fully informed. This approach also responds to some of the questions that impact Indigenous-industry agreements including questions regarding persons who qualify as rights-holders and to whom the duty to consult and accommodate is owed, how to determine the geographic scope of the rights-holder, and persons who are entitled to represent the rights-holder during consultation about the right.
