Manufacturing Consent? Consultation, IBAs and the Politics of Indigenous Participation in Resources Development in Canada

This paper examines the conflicting logics and incentive structures associated with two of the key mechanisms that have emerged in recent years to secure indigenous participation (and sometimes consent) to the decision-making process surrounding natural resources extraction on their traditional lands. Indigenous engagement in public consultation processes, often associated with environmental assessment mechanisms, are increasingly coupled with the negotiation of private Impact and Benefit Agreements with project proponents. Using Canadian cases, we suggest an analytical framework to unpack the power dynamics at play in the simultaneous unfolding of consultation processes and IBA negotiations, and discuss the potential philosophical and practical tensions between these two modes of Indigenous participation in land and resources management.