presentation
Communication and Engagement • Is often listed as a top-three challenge by First Nations leadership • Often little internal capacity for it • A lack of engagement is often at the root of conflict and delays • Engagement is much more important to First Nations
Decision Making
• The cost of engaging and making good decisions is much less than the cost of conflict
• Our group is behind $3,000,000,000 in successful agreements and their ratification on behalf of First Nations in BC.
We build capacity We engage all members We work for communities We believe in good data and information We bring everyone along in decision making We achieve certainty through proven first nations practices
• We only work for First Nations interests. • This ensures that we are never in a conflict position, and allows us to achieve better results for our clients.
Programs and Services
Engagement
Governance
Economic Development
Community Engagement Dos and Do Nots
Do Not • Attempt to explain the benefits as your starting point • Industry Person: “If only Lynx River First Nation would let us come to their community and explain the BENEFITS of our project, everyone would support it.”
• The “if only… benefits” approach does not work because: • People need to feel heard before they will listen • It makes people feel devalued and preached to, which often has the opposite effect
Do Not • Assume you know everything and community members know nothing or have little to offer • Assume that members are stupid or illiterate or less educated • Consultant: “If we just explain things with easy-to-understand presentations and materials, members will finally understand why this is a good thing”
• The simplify everything approach does not work well because: • It often devalues member knowledge and capacity to understand, creating or worsening conflict • It closes the door on members who have a lot of knowledge, traditional and otherwise • My grandfather never got past grade 4 but was a library of information • Whenever we go out and ask people we always get a surprise
Do Not • Apply a 1-size-fits-all approach to engagement • Advisor: “This strategy and approach worked really well with the Haida so it will work well here too”
• 1-size-fits all does not work because: • First Nations are diverse in many many ways • Even different communities in a similar language or culture group will have different experiences and realities that should uniquely shape their engagement
Do Not • Conduct community meetings and think that they constitute engagement or result in a clear mandate • Lawyer: “We’ve held three community meetings and everyone who showed up was really supportive. So we should definitely sign on to this oil pipeline.”
• Community meetings do not work as the backbone of engagement because: • It’s usually the same people showing up to the meetings • Membership is typically 30% on reserve, 70% off reserve, making it difficult and expensive to reach members through meetings • The people who show up to meetings often do not represent the whole Nation, and most critically do not reflect the voting/ action reality of the population • We often see a small minority of members get their information or form their opinions through meetings
• We recommend doing meetings, simply do not rely on them as the core of your engagement • Consider: The cost of one $15,000 (a cheap one) meeting could pay for a member full time for three months. • How many Facebook updates could that member do in 3 months? • How many members could they call? visit? • Consider adjusting your engagement resources to focus on the places where members get their information
Do Not • Make critical tactical or strategic decisions based on assumptions or small sample sizes • Leader: “I talked to some members and they are supportive. I think we have a mandate to continue.” • Leader: “The elders are against this. We should stop.” • Negotiator: “That community meeting went well. I think we should finish the deal.”
• The assumption/ small sample size decisions are one of the biggest problems we see. • The only way to find out what members think or feel is to go engage them • Talking to a couple family members or elders or youth does not mean everyone thinks that way • Consider challenging these common memes and insist on having comprehensive engagement and data to back up conclusions
Measure Your Engagement
Do Not • Count on members to walk in the door and ask for information • Engagement person: “I set up this info@ email address and website. All members have to do is email me and I’ll answer all their questions”
• The build-it-and-they-will-come approach never works. • This approach arguably doesn’t work anywhere. The difference is that First Nations expect to be fully informed and engaged. • I learned early on, as a basketball coach, that if I didn’t go pick up my players I wouldn’t have a team. Socio-economic realities often mean we have to be proactive. • There are no short-cuts to proper, direct engagements. You simply need a lot of boots on the ground to do this right.
Do Not • Pay for engagement yourself • Industry guy: “It’s great you want to engage your members but you have to do it with your money”
• Currently over $11b has been spent on natural resource speculation in BC. A very, very small fraction of that has been spent on proper engagement and consultation. • Part of the successful engagement project involves securing funding from 3rd parties • Companies and government often have the funds for engagement, but spend it internally or on their teams
Do • Always start by listening. Survey and poll members throughout your engagement. Complete the circle by reporting back every time. • Craft your plan to the realities and strengths of your nation. Do you have feasts regularly? Do your members frequently gather at coffee shops? How can you tap in to these to strengthen your engagement.
Do • Connect your engagement to your governance. Show your members that decisions made directly tie in with what they said. • Ensure your governance can handle the stress of comprehensive engagement.
Governance • Engagement will test your governance and governance structures. Consider conducting stress tests, worst-casescenarios, and adopting needed policy before proceeding. • Engagement needs to integrate tightly with your negotiation and governance teams and structures. • Leadership needs to be informed and plugged in to member opinions and realities in order to make good decisions. • When done right, good engagement strengthens governance and contributes to nation unity.
Capacity Building • One person can’t do it all. • It takes time to do properly. There’s a reason it takes years to get degrees and certification. • The biggest barriers are often internal changes that need to happen to support the capacity. • There are multiple successful models of communication capacity. You must find what works for your nation. • When done right, everything moves faster and costs less money.
An Important Part of Everything
Framework
G2G EA EBA
Ratification IBA
Implementation
Challenge
Communication
Thank You