Native Community Consultation Policy Specific to the Mining Sector

Under section 2.3 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1), enacted on December 10, 2013, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources must prepare and publish a Native community consultation policy specific to the mining sector.Under section 2.3 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1), enacted on December 10, 2013, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources must prepare and publish a Native community consultation policy specific to the mining sector.

The Policy is one of the elements used by the Québec Government to meet its duty to consult the Native people. Its purpose is:

• to help ensure greater consideration for the concerns expressed by the Native communities with respect to mining activities;
• to set out guidelines, specific to the mining sector, for the process used to consult the Native communities, in order to guide the parties’ actions at each step of a mining project;
• to strengthen relationships and promote dialogue between Québec, the Native communities and promoters during the development of mineral resources in Québec;
• to foster better coordination of the government’s actions in Native community consultations specific to the mining sector.

The Policy, in addition to fulfilling the duty to consult, is an expression of the Québec Government’s intention to be open and transparent towards the Native communities, and underscores the role played by mining promoters by placing the emphasis on exchanges of information and the development and maintenance of good relationships between all the parties.