Going Above and Beyond Consultation: Canada West Land’s Approach to Indigenous and Community Relations

 

As stricter guidelines and requests for project development have been enforced by the government, companies are now prioritizing the importance of working with Indigenous communities to build long-lasting relationships and to ensure they benefit from these projects. With Bill C69 now passed, the pressure to generate and submit reports on pre-consultation engagement will become something to be expected from oil and gas companies working on larger, multi-province projects. Most companies manage only the regulator consultation process to meet government requirements. However, our team goes beyond by establishing early engagement and leveraging well established long-term relationships.

Canada West Land Services (CWLS) is a comprehensive land management company with a focus on meaningful relationships with all affected parties. We provide land solutions and public consultation services to a variety of clients, in a variety of industries. Our relationships span decades and are a testament to our understanding, diligence and reliability in providing unequaled service. One of the services that we strive to excel at is Indigenous Relations and Community Engagement.

Indigenous Relations play an integral role in resource development throughout our country, and we pride ourselves in going above and beyond consultation. We ensure that Indigenous communities are a priority and that stable and collaborative working relationships are established. Our experienced consultation liaisons ensure that all parties are engaged appropriately to contribute to long-term project success. The value of these relationships is becoming increasingly important for sustainable resource development.

Our Indigenous Relations services include:

• Indigenous consultation and community engagement
• Development of consultation plans and frameworks, including interpretation and understanding of consultation guidelines with various regulatory bodies
• Project compensation negotiations, revenue sharing, and economic benefit agreements
• Risk mitigation and dispute resolution

Our key consultation contact for these services is Jorge Aviles. Jorge prioritizes building relationships and maintaining them for years to come. He spent years as an overseas Sustainable Projects Manager, which provided him with more than a decade of experience communicating, training and negotiating with Indigenous groups in Latin America, West Africa and Southeast Asia.

Jorge has recently been supporting a large midstream company. He has been providing senior advisory services on several long-term projects and has been looking after the community investment portfolio for several Indigenous communities in both Alberta and British Columbia. He has successfully served as mediator in many difficult negotiation cases.

Not all companies are able to fund programs for Indigenous communities or partner with their businesses but finding ways to build relationships with them is what is important. That is why our Indigenous Relations services are such a core value to our company. Being able to serve as a liaison between clients and subcontractors simplifies things for our clients and ensures that the needs of both parties are understood.

CWLS also offers training in Indigenous Awareness and Cross-Cultural Communications. Jorge has done this in collaboration with members of different Indigenous communities and has trained both local and foreign companies through Alberta Innovates.

CWLS is fortunate to be able to serve as an ambassador in these communities and as a subject matter expert for larger companies that may not have experience dealing with Indigenous communities. Our staff has many years of experience with the communities that may be brand new to our clients. Many companies don’t have dedicated teams for cross-cultural consultation and Indigenous awareness, so we are proud to be able to provide this service.

Canada West Land Services
123 1925 18^th Ave NE Calgary, AB T2E 7T8
www.canadawestland.com
Linkedin and Twitter

Jorge Aviles
Manager, Indigenous and Community Relations
P: 403.250.7240
E: javiles@canadawestland.com

Mike Tidmarsh
Vice President
P: 403.250.7240
E: mtidmarsh@canadawestland.com

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