PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT Annex B: Summary of information available and preliminary depth of consultation assessment (DOCA) Chiniki First Nation Summary The Major Projects Management Office (MPMO) conducted a preliminary depth of consultation assessment based on currently available information about the potential impacts of the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. 2021 Expansion Project (the Project) on Chiniki First Nation’s (Chiniki) section 35 Aboriginal and Treaty rights. This assessment will guide the design and implementation of the MPMO’s consultation activities with Chiniki First Nation. Through this assessment, the MPMO sought to gain a preliminary understanding of the nature and extent of Chiniki First Nation’s section 35 Aboriginal and Treaty rights1. The MPMO then used this preliminary information to determine the extent to which those rights could be adversely impacted by the Project, and the likelihood of that impact. The assessment will be updated should new information to inform the assessment become available. The assessment is solely for the purposes of planning and conducting consultation; the assessment will not, in and of itself, form the basis for assessing the adequacy of consultation. Preliminary Conclusion Based on the information available at this time, the depth of consultation owed to Chiniki falls in the middle part of the consultation spectrum2. If there is any additional information with regard to 1) potential or established section 35 Aboriginal and Treaty rights, or 2) the potential impacts of the Project on those rights, please provide this information to the Crown Consultation Team at
[email protected]. Summary of Currently Available Information about Chiniki First Nation Chiniki is one of the most northwestern representatives of the Siouan language family.