Module 5 Negotiating Benefits Agreements

Socio-Economic Participation AgreementsSocio-Economic Participation Agreements (SEPAs): private, confidential contracts between Aboriginal communities and resource developers, like mining companies. SEPAs specify how the communities that will be affected by the development of a resource will also benefit from that development. Many SEPAs include terms about the employment and training of Aboriginal people, compensationCompensation: something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury). payments, protection of the environment, and profit-sharing. SEPAs are often called Impact Benefits Agreements (IBAs) and Cooperation Benefit Agreements (CBAs), and other names. The Aboriginal Mining Guide calls them all SEPAs.Socio-Economic Participation Agreements (SEPAs): private, confidential contracts between Aboriginal communities and resource developers, like mining companies. SEPAs specify how the communities that will be affected by the development of a resource will also benefit from that development. Many SEPAs include terms about the employment and training of Aboriginal people, compensationCompensation: something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury). payments, protection of the environment, and profit-sharing. SEPAs are often called Impact Benefits Agreements (IBAs) and Cooperation Benefit Agreements (CBAs), and other names. The Aboriginal Mining Guide calls them all SEPAs. (SEPAs) have changed a lot over the years. At first they were fairly simple. They aimed to provide as many opportunities as possible in employment, training, and business to the community or communities that a mine would affect.

The earliest SEPAs were just between the mining companies and government. When Aboriginal communities became more active participants, SEPAs became 3-way agreements between communities, a mining company, and government. Over the last 10 years, the role of government has grown smaller and smaller. SEPAs nowadays only occasionally include government. Generally they are negotiated directly between the company and the Aboriginal community or organization.

Individual SEPAs are almost always confidential. (Only the Raglan Agreement has been made publicly available.) Thus, almost all our examples come from books about SEPAs and not from the SEPAs themselves. The most important of these books is A Guide to Impact and Benefits Agreements, which describes agreements concluded in the years 1974-1996.¹ More recent agreements could be different.

A SEPA can include a wide range of elements, but need not include them all. As well as employment, training, and business opportunities, SEPAs nowadays detail fixed cash paymentsFixed Cash Payment: a fixed amount of money that a Benefit Agreement stipulates to be paid out to Aboriginal communities or organizations in compensation for a mining project taking place in their traditional territory. and sometimes a direct share in mining profits. SEPAs also pay a lot more attention to implementationImplementation: the carrying out or execution of an agreement, decision, or plan. than ever before. They are more comprehensive and often more complex than they used to be.

The Raglan Agreement (see *Case Study #2: Raglan Mine, p. Intro-21) was very complex. It had seven signatoriesSignatory: any person or organization who has signed as a signatory to a document or agreement.: Makivik CorporationCorporation: the most common form of business organization. It pursues set objectives and is empowered with legal rights usually only reserved for individuals, such as to sue and be sued, own property, hire employees, or loan and borrow money., Falconbridge Limited, Qarqalik Landholding Corporation of Salluit, Northern Village Corporation of Salluit, Nunaturlik Landholding Corporation of Kangiqsujuaq, Northern Village Corporation of Kangiqsujuaq, and Société Minière Raglan Du Québec Ltée. Among other matters, its provisions address environment and mitigation, Inuit training and employment, Inuit enterprises, financial matters, dispute resolutionDispute Resolution: a process by which two or more parties may discuss their disagreements and come to decisions about how to proceed., and toxic substancesToxic Substances: poisonous matter (either man-made or natural) which causes sickness, disease and/or death to plants or animals..

The rest of this module discusses the seven sections of a SEPA that should be negotiated before a mine proceeds to the Construction StageConstruction Stage: the stage in which all facilities, buildings, roads etc. necessary for the operation of a mine are built.:

1. Introductory Provisions
2. Employment and Training
3. Economic Development and Business Opportunities
4. Social, Cultural, and Community Support
5. Financial Provisions and EquityEquity: the dollar value of what a person or organization owns (as opposed to debt, which indicates what a person or organization owes). A person or organization can have an equity interest in something if they have part or full ownership. Participation
6. Environmental Protection and Cultural Resources
7. Other Substantive and Procedural Provisions

(Many of these elements may be introduced in earlier MOUs, Negotiation AgreementsNegotiation Agreement: an early agreement in the mining process, likely to occur in the Exploration StageExploration Stage: the whole range of activity from searching for and developing mineralMineral: A naturally-occurring, homogeneous substance that has a definite chemical composition and (usually) a crystalline structure. deposits., which would outline the basis of the relationship between the Aboriginal group and the mining company and how the relationship will evolve if the mine moves forward. , or Interim AgreementsInterim Agreement: an agreement that is put in place during a period in which final decisions or agreements are still being negotiated.. Some may even be foreshadowed in an Aboriginal community’s Engagement ProtocolsEngagement Protocols: policies or guidelines developed by Aboriginal groups themselves or in conjunction with mining companies. They generally will outline in detail the concerns about environmental and cultural impactsImpacts: the effect or impression of one thing on another such as the impact of a mining project on the life of an Aboriginal community. and the steps that should be taken by companies interested in exploration or mining on traditional territory. .)

If you are developing a SEPA for the first time, study the case studies well. Follow that up by reading some of the sources listed in the Bibliography. Then talk to others to learn about their experiences in the negotiation process. An agreement will embody a large number of commitments. Those commitments will not be carried out if funding is not available to pay for their implementation. Therefore ensure that the agreement stipulates the funding necessary to make each commitment a reality.

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