RC116 JanFeb 2025 - Magazine - Page 8
LEADERSHIP
MAKING CONNECTIONS
HDR’s Jeremiah Pariag say proactive Indigenous community
engagement leads to better outcomes
HEN TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES in Canada plan
and design critical infrastructure systems,
it’s vital for project owners to consult with
the public and stakeholders who may be
impacted. Though many agencies have an
established public and stakeholder outreach
process, traditional engagement strategies don’t always
adequately identify the needs or address the concerns of
Indigenous communities. Indigenous concerns related
to traditional lands and treaty rights di昀昀er from general
concerns, such as impacts on community character
and construction-related e昀昀ects. To e昀昀ectively engage
Indigenous communities, a more intentional and
customized outreach strategy is necessary. It’s important
to understand that in Canada, the level of engagement
with Indigenous communities is often determined by the
agency or proponent. Therefore, teams must be prepared
to develop engagement protocols that are customized to
their speci昀椀c projects or organization.
Jeremiah Pariag, Strategic Communications Growth
Manager with HDR, has extensive experience cultivating
relationships with underserved communities during the
planning, design and construction of major infrastructure
projects. He’s currently leading Indigenous engagement
for several private land development projects in Canada.
For the past two years, he has led Indigenous relations on
the Ontario Line transit project, a new $27 billion subway
under construction in downtown Toronto. Pariag is
playing a key role in strengthening relationships between
Indigenous communities and the infrastructure owner,
including developing a training manual to guide the contractor on building relationships with Indigenous community members. Additionally, Pariag is an Instructor at
Western University, where he teaches an environmental
management course with an emphasis on Indigenous
engagement.
In this interview, he discusses the importance of
engaging with Indigenous communities during the early
planning stages to build trust from the start. Pariag also
explains the need for and bene昀椀ts of Indigenous community involvement on critical infrastructure projects and
how developing positive working relationships bene昀椀ts
future projects.
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RENEW CANADA – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
HDR
Why is it important to look beyond traditional engagement strategies to seek input from Indigenous communities on critical infrastructure projects?
PARIAG: What we’re seeing now is a direct link between
project viability and Indigenous participation on projects
in Canada. We’ve seen this in some infrastructure sectors
for quite some time. Indigenous involvement on mining
and energy projects has been common for several years,
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