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Environmental Impact Assessment Under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act: Deliberative Democracy in Canada’s North?

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Abstract

We consider the extent to which the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA) provides an opportunity for deliberative democracy to emerge within the context of resource management in Canada’s North. The focus is on the extent to which the tenets of deliberative democracy are exercised in the environmental assessment (EA) of the Snap Lake diamonds project. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with assessment participants, and a review of documentation surrounding the EA process, and the case study. Results combined four principles of deliberative democracy: generality, autonomy, power neutrality, and ideal role taking. The EA conducted under the MVRMA can serve as a deliberative process, as illustrated by opportunities for dialogue, access to different perspectives, and learning outcomes. However, many of these positive results occurred through nonmandated technical sessions. The absence of participant funding also limits the deliberative potential of the MVRMA.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank research participants, who volunteered to participate and provided wise insight about the MVRMA and the Snap Lake EA. We would like to acknowledge the two reviewers whose questions and comments greatly strengthened the document. Financial support for this study was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Northern Studies Research Training Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3B 2E9

    Patricia Fitzpatrick

  2. Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Sinnott Building, 70 Dysart Rd., Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3T 2N2

    A. John Sinclair

  3. Department of Geography, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1

    Bruce Mitchell

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  1. Patricia Fitzpatrick
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Correspondence to Patricia Fitzpatrick.

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Fitzpatrick, P., Sinclair, A.J. & Mitchell, B. Environmental Impact Assessment Under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act: Deliberative Democracy in Canada’s North?. Environmental Management 42, 1–18 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9098-2

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