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Still, the industry has a lot of questions about how the new law is going to be brought into force, said Kendra Johnston, CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration.

It calls for all provincial legislation to align with the principles of the UN declaration, including the Environmental Assessment Act and Mineral Tenure Act, which was of most concern to the association’s convention, which ends Thursday.

“I think we’re all going to be really, really proud of (the law) down the road,” Johnston said. “Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty about how it’s going to be implemented and what it’s going to mean for industry.”

Caul, at Tuesday’s session, pleaded for patience on expectations for how quickly legislation will be brought in line with the declaration, something he characterized as “generational work.”

“You can’t flip a switch and suddenly try to bring (laws) into harmony,” Caul said. Government and the First Nations Leadership Council, a tripartite effort of the First Nations Summit, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and Assembly of First Nations, are putting together a plan aimed at bringing that process along.

However, where mineral exploration work is concerned, the vast majority of companies have already clued in to the need for building relationships with Indigenous communities before they start, said Sharon Singh, a lawyer in resource law with Bennett Jones.

“We don’t do ground-disturbing activities by just showing up and doing the work,” Singh said during the panel discussion. “We actually go forward and do the consultation that is required, the best practices we have in place.”