NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region, South Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, governance, socio-economics, resource development

Objective(s): To make a list of various methods used by Aboriginal communities and organizations to distribute royalties and profit shares paid by resource companies; to identify the characteristics of each mode of distribution and their positive and negative outcomes; and, to identify the most sustainable practices and those that allow communities to benefit economically and socially from the royalties.

Project Description: This project will bridge this knowledge gap by achieving the following three objectives: 1) Making a list of various methods used by Aboriginal communities and organizations to distribute royalties and profit shares paid by resource companies; 2) Identifying the characteristics of each mode of distributions and their positive and negative outcomes; and 3) Identifying the most sustainable practices and those that allow communities to benefit economically and socially from the royalties. The information needed for the survey will be collected by an online and a phone survey. This survey will be send to individuals that manage profit shares and royalties or that work for health and social services or for community services. The survey should take about 15 to 30 minutes to answer, it is anonymous and it will not be recorded. At first, potential respondents will be contacted by email. They will be informed of the project and, if they accept to participate after reading the implicit consent form attached to the email, they will be able to fill the online survey by following the link in the email. The research team will also inform them that they will receive a phone call, two weeks later, in order to confirm their participation in the survey. During this phone call, the researcher will resume the research project to the potential respondents and ask them if they answered the survey. If the answer is no, the researcher will ask them if they want to participate and, if yes, he will read the verbal consent form to the participants and the survey will be done by phone. By identifying what are the different modes of distribution of royalties, this project will provide the knowledge to many communities and organizations to increase their capacity to benefit from resource development. The overall objectives of the research is to make it available to communities so that those who are expecting royalties and profit shares from resource companies will be able to make enlightened decisions by knowing what are the different modes of distribution available to them and their impacts. A report will be written, and made public on the Northern Sustainable Development Chair website. The report will also be sent to communities and organizations in the NWT, whether they have participated in the project or not. The report will also be shared with members of the Knowledge Network and through Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic’s (ReSDA’s) own network. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from April 10, 2014 to December 26, 2014.