One of the most fulfilling parts of my profession as a community relations practitioner is the opportunity to work closely with First Nation communities and foster meaningful relationships with industry stakeholders.
During my recent visit to a remote northern community, I had the privilege of supporting a First Nation client on their negotiations with a mining company on a brownfield operation. Our focus was on facilitating information sharing to strengthen relationships. We delved into crucial discussions on equitable benefit sharing, trust, and the importance of honouring commitments in resource development.
Doing community relations is such a unique profession. When I'm asked about what I do, it's often hard to describe, but it's about wearing many hats, including:
· Spending many hours in the car and on the plane.
· Coordinating travel and logistics between various people and parties.
· Developing meeting materials, including presentations, posters, fact sheets, and anticipated Q&As and messaging, and collaborating with clients to ensure the tone/strategy is aligned with their goals.
· Putting together meeting summaries and action items to record meeting outcomes and track commitments made.
· Printing and stapling community handouts.
· Facility coordination and support.
· Discussing the project with community members.
· Understanding and answering complex questions about resource development legacy issues.
· Lots of laughter and good-natured teasing.
Embracing positive and negative input, views, and opinions from community stakeholders and leaders is not just a part of the job; it guides our work. Their views remind us of our purpose—supporting collaborative, trusting and actionable relationships between communities and industry, ensuring that the outcome aligns with their vision for the future.
