Good day,

Thank you for your continued participation in the renewal process for the Government of Alberta’s Policy on Consultation with First Nations on Land and Natural Resource Management, 2013 and the Government of Alberta’s Policy on Consultation with Metis Settlements on Land and Natural Resource Management, 2015 (Policies) and in approaches to enhance capacity. Indigenous Relations would like to continue our dialogue in February to hear your feedback on addressing the common policy issues we discussed with you in October and November 2017, including cumulative effects management, enhanced capacity funding, and possible legislation.

Please attend a full day session of your choice, in either Calgary or Edmonton. Indigenous Relations’ senior leadership and Assistant Deputy Minister, Mr. Stan Rutwind, will be present to answer your questions. The sessions are as follows:

February 8, 2018: Calgary Ramada Plaza, Calgary Airport 3515 – 26 Street NE 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

February 12, 2018: Edmonton Chateau Louis Hotel & Conference Centre 11727 Kingsway Avenue NW 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

 

Please RSVP to fncprenewal@gov.ab.ca by February 1, 2018 to confirm your attendance at a session. The sessions will be identical.

To help you prepare, attached is a document outlining major discussion topics, and specific tools and ideas for addressing the identified common policy issues, enhancing consultation capacity funding and for developing a possible legislative framework for Indigenous consultation. Early next week we will send out a brief survey to gather your initial opinions on these ideas and tools to help inform priority discussion topics for the meetings. Please read the attached document in advance of completing your survey. Other supporting materials for the session, including the agenda, will be sent to you ahead of the meeting date.

After we receive your organization’s perspectives on the proposed ideas for renewing the Indigenous consultation process at the February session, additional engagement meetings with Industry leadership and key government Ministers will be scheduled in March and April 2018 (more details will be coming to you shortly regarding these additional meetings).  Following these sessions, Indigenous Relations intends to develop draft renewed consultation policies that will be shared publicly with all industry and municipal stakeholders, First Nations, and Metis Settlements for review. The circulation of the draft policies will provide all parties with a further opportunity to inform and shape the renewed policies. Later this month, you will receive a letter from Indigenous Relations’ Honorable Minister Richard Feehan to update you on the renewal process overall into 2018.

I appreciate the time your organization is taking to participate in these discussions. In the meantime, if you have questions about the February sessions or the survey, please contact Ms. Kim Yarmuch, Consultation Policy Evaluation Coordinator, by phone at (780) 643-9314 or by email at kim.yarmuch@gov.ab.ca. If you have questions about the next steps of the policy renewal process, please contact Mr. Godlove Suh, Manager of Consultation Policy and Program Evaluation, at (780) 643-3889 or by email at godlove.suh@gov.ab.ca; for specific inquiries related to the Enhanced Consultation Capacity Initiative (ECCI), please contact Mr. Adam Schneidmiller, Manager of Consultation Capacity, Training & Outreach, by phone at (780) 638-4580 or by email at adam.schneidmiller@gov.ab.ca.

Once again, thank you for your ongoing participation in the First Nations and Metis Settlements consultation policy renewals and the ECCI. We look forward to continuing to work with you on these critically important initiatives in 2018. As mentioned, your survey will be arriving early next week.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Aimoe
Acting Executive Director
Stewardship and Policy Integration Branch
Indigenous Relations

Indigenous Relations
fncprenewal@gov.ab.ca