Informed — We need to understand as early as possible and before each new stage of the project what will happen
and how we will be affected. There are two steps to being fully informed:
1) The proponent must give our community all the information they have on the proposal. This information
should be in forms and languages our people can
understand; and
2) If we can, our community should try to gather more
information on our own about the proposal and the
proponent. The information we get from a company,
government or even non-governmental proponent often
talks more about the possible benefits of a project than
the negative impacts.
Consent — Our decision to say “Yes” or “No” should come only
from the authorities that our people freely choose to represent us.
Their decisions should reflect our customary laws and the concerns
and interests of different community members… women and men,
young and old, those who usually participate in meetings and
those who do not. We need enough time to understand. This is our
right – we need to ask that it be respected!
Not FPIC
More often than not the right to FPIC has
not been upheld in practice. This is true if:
•
Proponents deal with leaders they
select themselves, instead of our
chosen community leaders, to get
consent for their project. This is one
example of “manipulation” and is
called “manipulated FPIC;”
•
Information on a project is given
to our community just before a
meeting. We cannot be expected
to understand and make a decision
right away;
•
The proponent assumes the project
will go ahead whether we say “No”
or “Yes”!
Key FPIC Tip: Ideally our consent should be sought from the
earliest possible stage. This means before prospecting permits
are given to miners and before land is set aside for protected
areas, forestry or other activities by outsiders. This does not happen very often, so we have to make our case and
then make it again! It is also important for us to remember that our consent is not a one-time decision. It should be
sought before each new stage of a proposed project or policy.
Some of these stages for a mining project are:
1) Deciding to give or not give our consent to meet with a company or the government to learn more about
what they want to do;
2) Giving our consent to being consulted about prospecting or exploration. If our community decides to allow
prospecting or exploration to go ahead, we should give our consent only when we understand the impacts
that it will have on our territory; and only after we have agreed on rules about what kind of exploration we
are allowing, where and how our community will be involved;
3) Giving our consent to negotiate and participate in an assessment of the environmental and social impacts of
the project. Again, we should set the rules for how company consultants will act when doing research on our
territory and with our people;
4) Consenting to the full project can come later. We cannot make an informed decision without knowing all the
impacts, and an impact assessment can take two years!
5) Consent is not finished when the project goes forward. In the case of mining, the company might want to build
a second mine on our territory or a hydro-electric dam to power it. This must mean new negotiations; and
6) Finally, giving our consent does not mean we can’t take it back. If we say “Yes,” it is a “Yes with conditions.”
If we have signed a legal agreement that sets out steps to be followed and the proponent does not follow
them, we may have a case to withdraw our consent.
It is important to get the final agreement right. Even though there should be a process for reviewing and renegotiating built into it, it is very difficult to change the final agreement after we have signed it. We need to make
sure we take the time we need!
2
Free, Prior and Informed Consent