A landmark Supreme court ruling gave title to over 1750 square kilometres of land to the Tsilhqot’in people west of Williams Lake.

This is a large area of land in the Chilcotin, and it will be used as a Tribal Park. This means that all major economic operations in the area will have to be first approved by the First Nations government there.

To the nearby planned $1.1 billion dollar Taseko copper and gold mine, positive stakeholder relations with their First Nations neighbours is vital.

Taseko could try fight and resist the title by the First Nations, or they could change their operations to work with the First Nations.

Engaging with Native leaders and the community, Taseko could employ a proactive approach that will foster good relationships that can benefit them in the future.

For now, Taseko’s project has not been given the go ahead since they did not meet the requirements of the Tsilhqot’in people.

Tying into the PEST analysis we have done in class, Taseko and other resource extracting companies should focus more on understanding the various political and social/cultural factors in their area of operation, and learn to positively overcome them.