ABSTRACT

Across Northern Canada, as well as places such as Alaska and Greenland, the political empowerment of Indigenous governments has provided greater control over the conditions of resource development. In Northern Canada the signing of comprehensive land claim agreements, beginning in the 1970s, ushered in an era of political change that enabled Indigenous governments to regain self-determination over the development process. Land claim agreements created very specific kinds of power-sharing arrangements such as land use planning, co-management of wildlife as well as requirements for participation in environmental assessment and water/land regulation. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process had been recognized as an important means by which negative impacts can be considered and mitigated and by which communities can be better engaged. The short-term economic gains achieved through development projects can lead to unanticipated outcomes – greater dependency, uncertainty and conflict between social and ecological dynamics – that will diminish the likelihood of achieving community sustainability.