Industry will likely have to offer more benefits to Indigenous people if it wants a proposed diamond mine in the Fort a la Corne Provincial Forest area to go forward, the head of the Prince Albert Grand Council says.
Star Diamond is heading up the billion-dollar project but the nearby James Smith Cree Nation is opposed saying neither the company nor province have met their duty to consult obligations to local Indigenous communities.
The First Nation says it will not let the project move forward until this happens and is willing to go to court if necessary.
PAGC Chief Brian Hardlotte says Star Diamond is simply not offering enough in terms of benefits to James Smith and other local Indigenous communities and the company will likely need to rework the proposed deal if they want the project to go forward.
“I think the challenge now is really with industry,” he says. “The main one is Shore (Star) Diamond, with what kind of agreement they want to have with the First Nation and the government to move ahead.”
He adds the agreement could also potentially involve some sort of resource revenue sharing agreement between the province and First Nations.
“Who knows, there could be talks about the Natural Resources Transfer Act in terms of revenue sharing in the future. We’re confident and maybe this is the government that can do that.”
However, the Sask. Party government has not been open to discussing resource revenue sharing with Saskatchewan First Nations in the past.
The province gave the green light on the environmental assessment of the proposed diamond mine last month.
The project is slated to be located in the Fort a la Corne Provincial Forest area, about 57 kilometres east of Prince Albert.
Hardlotte met with Premier Scott Moe and other government officials in Regina on Thursday.