THE NEGOTIATION

For Ekati mine, LKD and the other Akaitcho Treaty 8 First Nations negotiated an Impact Benefits AgreementImpact Benefits Agreement: a contractual agreement, usually between an Aboriginal community or entity and a mining company. (IBA) in 1998. For Diavik LKD negotiated a Participation Agreement (PA) in 2001. For Snap Lake, LKD negotiated another IBA in 2007. Each agreement turned out differently. Every time LKD was able to learn from its experience and make the next agreement better than the one before.

In the case of Ekati, there were actually three agreements in which LKD was involved: an environment agreement and a socio-economic agreement, as well as the IBA. All three were signed after construction of the mine had already begun. LKD only got 60 days to be involved in the negotiation of all three.³

A lack of time, resources, and knowledge kept LKD leaders from going fully prepared into the negotiation of the Ekati mine. They were overwhelmed by the complex plans for the mine. It was also difficult for them to foresee how the mine might affect their people and the traditional territory. Other issues also made a good deal hard to come by:

• The technical language used to describe diamond mining and its potential 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. was unfamiliar.
•  Information about the value of the diamonds to the company was insufficient. Because of that, LKD was at a disadvantage when negotiating compensationCompensation: something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)..
• Negotiators did not have enough time to keep LKD elders and other community members fully informed.
• The Government of Canada denied Deninu Kue First Nation funding for the IBA negotiations, even though it is an Akaitcho Treaty 8 First Nation and the mine would affect its livelihood, too. LKD, Dettah, and Ndilo resolved instead to share their negotiation funding with Deninu Kue. This has been a source of tension among Akaitcho Dene First Nations ever since.

This first experience, while generally negative, did teach some lessons that the LKD took into the negotiation on the Diavik mine. Business opportunities at the mine were identified more effectively and targets for jobs and business contracts negotiated with more success. Training workshops and expert interpreters reduced the problems of the LKD with the language of mining. The leaders also knew they had the right to take the time to negotiate properly.

Discussions about Snap Lake began in 2002 when De Beers and LKD signed a Memorandum of UnderstandingMemorandum of Understanding: a document that records an understanding between a community and a mining or exploration companyExploration Company: a company whose principal activity is that of exploration.. The MOUMemorandum of Understanding: a document that records an understanding between a community and a mining or exploration company. The MOU defines principles for working together for mutual benefit. defines principles for working together for mutual benefit. to negotiate an IBA. The Memorandum outlined each topic they would discuss and when they would discuss it. Negotiations were to continue through 2003 and the IBA was expected to be complete in June 2003. In fact, it was not signed until April 2007 – two years longer than neighbouring First Nations took in their negotiations with De Beers. LKD took its time.
 

An important part of the negotiations with De Beers was traditional knowledgeTraditional Knowledge (TK): the knowledge, observations, and understandings about the natural environment, and about the relationships between living beings and their environment, that Aboriginal people have accumulated over many generations. (TK). An agreement between De Beers, the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories, and four Aboriginal groups created The Snap Lake Environmental Monitoring Agency. On it are four scientific experts as well as four elders who have lived in the area of the mine site. In this way the agency combines traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge.