ID: 1814
Presenting Author: Fabienne Lord
Session: 749 - Engaging Indigenous Nations for Inclusive Impact Assessments and Misinformation Response
Status: pending
Reflection on how local governance and disinformation affected an Indigenous consultation process and the lessons learned to rebuild trust and improving engagement.
This presentation explores the effects of disinformation on Indigenous consultation processes within the Canadian legal context. It draws on a real case in which the leadership of an Innu community denied a project proponent access to conduct public consultations for nearly two decades. When new leaders finally reopened the dialogue, community members realized they had been misinformed and excluded from the process.
This case highlights the tension between local governance, transparency, and the Canadian constitutional duty to consult. It shows how disinformation—even when it originates within a community—can undermine collective trust and compromise meaningful participation.
Based on this experience, the presentation reflects on methods to foster respectful, emotionally safe spaces for dialogue in contexts marked by mistrust and historical trauma. It concludes with practical insights to strengthen collaboration with Indigenous partners and to navigate emotionally charged situations where misinformation and consultation intersect.
Fabienne Lord, PhD, is a project director at WSP Canada specializing in environmental impact assessment, community engagement and stakeholder collaboration in complex infrastructure projects