Module 1 Putting Communities First

Mining companies are businesses. An Aboriginal community is not. Governments are neither businesses nor communities. People in business, government, and communities all have different assumptions about how the world works. They have different views about wealth – what it is, how you get it, and what it is for. They have different views about how important mining is to communities, and about how important communities are to mining.

To negotiate good agreements with mining companies you have to understand the basic assumptions that you and the other parties bring to the negotiation table. It is particularly important to understand how they would answer the question, “What is it that makes communities prosper?”

That question may sound straightforward but it is complicated. No two communities have the same access to valuable resources. Some are located close to rivers and lakes, fertile land, mineralMineral: A naturally-occurring, homogeneous substance that has a definite chemical composition and (usually) a crystalline structure. deposits, or big markets, for example. Some are not. Yet even when that access to resources is about the same, some places prosper, and some do not. So what makes the difference – “What is it that makes communities prosper?”

There are about five main perspectives on the issue. Four of these perspectives, if not held in check, can damage aboriginal interests. Only the fifth, in our view, is a basis on which you and the other people at the table can reach an agreement that really benefits your community. 
 

Download this module as a PDF: