Impact and Benefit Agreements in Relation to the Neoliberal State: the Case of Diamond Mines in the Northwest Territories
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Impact and Benefit Agreements in Relation to the Neoliberal State: the Case of Diamond Mines in the Northwest Territories by Tyler Levitan, Hon. B.A A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Economy Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2012, Tyler Levitan Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93620-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93620-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract This thesis investigates the Canadian state's relation to bilateral, confidential agreements — referred to commonly as Impact and Benefit Agreements (IB As) — between Indigenous communities in Northern Canada and mining companies that seek to extract resources from their traditional territory. A case study of IB As over diamond mines in the Northwest Territories has been employed. There is a gap within the literature on IB As addressing the state — such as understanding how the state benefits from the IB A process, what its role has thus far been in the process, and how to understand broader questions of Indigenous-state relations based on the state's hands-off approach to IBAs. This research addresses these gaps, and concludes that IB As in the North can be better understood through a framework of neoliberalization, according to which the interests of the state are being conveniently looked after. Acknowledgements I am forever indebted to my co-supervisors, Donna Patrick and Emilie Cameron, for providing such prompt and constructive feedback throughout the writing process. They were so encouraging, and without their confidence in me, I am certain that I would not have finished this project. Thank you so much for all of your support! This research also would not have been possible without the financial support of the Northern Scientific Training Program and ArcticNet. In my time up North, I was fortunate to have met so many incredibly kind and warm people. In particular, I thank Randy Freeman for communicating with me in advance of my trip to ensure that I had at least a few people to interview upon arriving in Yellowknife. I would also like to thank Tessa Macintosh for being such a gracious hostess. I really enjoyed getting to know you and your family, and many of my fellow guests at the Blue Raven B&B. Thank you, especially, to all of my interviewees who generously gave me their time and their unique perspectives. I was honoured to be present at an IB A workshop put on by Ginger Gibson while I was in Yellowknife. Ginger, thank you for inviting me and for putting on such an important workshop. I have to thank all of my friends for being patient with me as I have been a fairly absent friend while writing this thesis. Thanks to my partner Reem, who motivated me to get my work done, and was always so supportive along the way. Your love has been an enormous source of strength. Finally, I thank my family who I love and cherish dearly. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, who have provided me with the love and support that has brought me to this point. Thank you for always believing in me and supporting me throughout this degree. Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................iv List of Figures and Tables.............................................................................................................. vi List of Acronyms..............................................................................................................................vii List of Appendices..........................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Aim and Question(s) ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Context and Literature Review ....................................................................... 2 1.3 Theoretical Approach....................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Methodological Context and Research Methods .............................................................. 13 1.5 Chapter Summaries...........................................................................................................22 Chapter 2: Indigenous-state Relations and Northern Resource Extraction in Historical Perspective.......................................................................................................................................25 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................25 2.2 Canada’s Staples Economy in Early Settlement..............................................................27 2.3 Historic Treaties in the North............................................................................................29 2.4 The Introduction of Mining and the Transition to a Mixed Economy .............................. 33 2.5 Indigenous Resistance and the Berger Inquiry ..................................................................36 2.6 Creating a Basis for Legal and Economic Certainty through CLCAs ............................... 41 2.7 DBAs as an Alternative and/or Additional Form of Certainty .......................................... 46 2.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 48 Chapter 3: IBAs and the State: a Theoretical Examination.................................................... 50 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................50 3.2 Reflections on the Neoliberal State using a Marxist Political Economy Approach 51 3.3 Reflections on the Neoliberal State using a Govemmentality Approach ......................... 56 3.4 Neoliberalism and Indigenous Peoples in Canada ........................................................... 61 3.5 Understanding IBAs through a Marxist P.E. Approach to Neoliberalization .................. 65 3.6 Understanding IBAs through a Govemmentality Approach to Neoliberalization ........... 70 3.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 73 Chapter 4: An Analysis of the Canadian State’s Relation to IBAs in the NWT.................. 75 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 75 4.2 The Status Quo Remains .................................................................................................. 76 4.3 From 1999 to the Present: Thirteen Years of State Silence on the IB A Process ............. 79 4.4 Indigenous Position on the State’s Involvement .............................................................. 83 4.5 Neoliberalization and IBAs in the NWT .......................................................................... 88 4.6 The Crown and its Responsibilities to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples .............................. 96 4.7 Delegation of the Duty to Consult and Accommodate through IBAs ...............................99