Aboriginal relations

Many of Imperial’s operations and development opportunities are located on the traditional lands of Aboriginal people. We strive to develop and maintain lasting relationships with Aboriginal communities built on mutual trust and respect. A priority is to conduct our business in a manner that respects the land, environment, rights and culture of Aboriginal communities.

Our approach
We follow a set of guiding principles and guidelines to reinforce our approach to Aboriginal relations and provide guidance in our daily interactions with our Aboriginal neighbours. The guidelines cover:

  • consultation – Imperial strives to maintain an ongoing dialogue that treats all parties fairly and respects the rights, traditions, language and decision making of indigenous people
  • workforce development – Imperial’s goal is to have a workforce that is representative of the available qualified Aboriginal people in the labour market
  • business development – Imperial supports development of Aboriginal businesses that benefit the company and the community
  • community relations – Imperial supports projects that meet community needs and are consistent with our philanthropic objectives

What are we doing

Sharing best practices through employee network
We have created a centre of expertise in Community and Aboriginal Affairs based in Calgary to support the development, implementation and stewardship of our Aboriginal relations principles and guidelines.

Along with this, we have established an Aboriginal relations network of 26 employees, made up of representatives from across the company. The network exchanges information on strategies and consultation protocols to ensure consistency in how Imperial works with Aboriginal communities. It also shares best practices so that successful initiatives can be adapted for different areas of our operations.

In 2010, the network met twice to discuss the company's Aboriginal relations programs. One of these meetings focused on strategies being used at our Kearl project to promote the hiring of Aboriginal businesses.

Building relationships through consultation
Open and ongoing communication is essential to the way we approach Aboriginal relations. By understanding Aboriginal perspectives on issues of mutual interest and by dealing constructively with differing views, we believe we can develop lasting solutions that benefit the project and community.

For example, when designing Kearl, we consulted with elders and other community members and incorporated their advice and traditional ecological knowledge. This also resulted in us providing hunting, trapping and traditional land use access to areas of our leases that are not actively being mined. In addition, we have introduced specific workplace and operating policies that are sensitive to Aboriginal concerns.

In carrying out formal consultation, Imperial follows the Alberta government consultation guidelines, which determine the Aboriginal communities we must consult with as part of the project permitting process.

In 2010, we introduced a corporate Aboriginal consultation protocol to provide further guidance to our managers and leaders who regularly work with Aboriginal stakeholders.

Supporting workforce development
We are continuing our efforts to increase Aboriginal employment in our company. Our goal is to build a workforce that is representative of the available, qualified Aboriginal people in the labour market. By developing targeted recruitment strategies and networks and investing in scholarships, work placement and training programs, we hope to attract and employ more Aboriginal employees.

In 2010, Aboriginal people represented about 2 percent of our employee workforce. This percentage will increase over time as we pursue new growth opportunities in Western and Northern Canada.

Our operations and growth projects present many career opportunities. Our objective is to ensure that Aboriginal people have the opportunity to gain the background and skills they need to take advantage of them, while also helping to meet our business needs for personnel.

In 2010, we focused our efforts in these areas:

  • Scholarships: We fund an Aboriginal scholarship program administered by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. This program provides scholarships at post-secondary institutions that help Aboriginal students gain the academic qualifications and technical skills to compete for jobs in the petroleum industry. To better support Aboriginal students, we have broadened this program in 2011 to cover trades upgrading programs, in addition to university and college programs. Since 2007, the program has provided more than $200,000 to support 86 students.
      
  • Career fairs: Our staff actively participate in career fairs in Aboriginal communities near our operations. These events provide us with an important opportunity to meet with young people and provide information on different career paths in our industry. In 2010, for example, we participated in Blueprint for the Future in Edmonton, a national career fair organized by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. We also took part in regional career fairs in Fort Nelson, British Columbia; Sarnia, Ontario; and Cold Lake, Alberta.
      
  • Training programs: We support internal training programs that enhance retention of Aboriginal employees, address workplace barriers and increase cultural awareness. One example is the Native Internship Program at Cold Lake. This provides paid, on-the-job training for Aboriginal people from local communities. Since the program's introduction in 1998, more than 25 students have been offered career positions, helping to increase total Aboriginal employees from 3 to 10 percent of Cold Lake's total workforce.

    We also sponsor external training programs in partnership with government and the Aboriginal community. In the Horn River region, we supported the North East Native Advancing Society’s program providing essential employment skills training.
      
  • Aboriginal awareness: We continue to expand Aboriginal cultural awareness training for our workers. Since 2009, we have provided a one-day Aboriginal cultural awareness program to supervisors and managers from Imperial and contractor companies involved in the Kearl project. The course focuses on Aboriginal history, treaties and their significance, key issues and challenges as well as recent cultural achievements. Over the past two years, more than 1,100 employees and contractors have participated in the program. We are building on this successful program to create similar training opportunities for workers at Horn River and Cold Lake.

 

Aboriginal

Engaging Aboriginal businesses
To help build local capacity, we identify and support the development of Aboriginal businesses in Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories – areas where we have growth projects with significant business opportunities.

In 2010, about $104 million in procurement contracts were awarded to Aboriginal businesses company-wide. An additional $77 million was awarded to Aboriginal companies through sub-contractors. These suppliers range in scope and scale and include well servicing, transportation, environmental studies, seismic data collection, waste management, pipeline surveillance, security and emergency medical assistance.

As we pursue our growth plans, we are meeting with local Aboriginal businesses to ensure they are aware of the opportunities created by our projects and understand our requirements.

This effort in 2010 included a number of highlights:

  • Kearl: Together with our major contractors, we have formed the Kearl socio-economic team, which is working with local businesses to share project expectations and ensure Aboriginal companies have the opportunity to bid on project work. In 2010, the team met with band-owned businesses and joint ventures owned by three First Nations communities to review project timelines, the contracting process and our expectations for safety. The team has also been instrumental in sharing information on Kearl's process of posting contract opportunities to local communities. In 2010, presentations were made to the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, the Fort McMurray Construction Association and the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association (NAABA).

    In addition, our company sponsored a Contracts 101 workshop in Fort McMurray through NAABA. Procurement experts from Imperial and partner companies spoke to local Aboriginal businesses to enhance their understanding of our contracting process.

    We also helped to fund a training retreat for local Aboriginal entrepreneurs organized by the Athabasca Tribal Council (ATC). The week-long program included professional development workshops, cultural activities and keynote speakers from the Aboriginal business community. The ATC represents five First Nations in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
      
  • Horn River: We participated in the annual Fort Nelson Energy Expo in Fort Nelson. The industry-organized event provides local residents and businesses an opportunity to learn more about contracting, career opportunities and training programs in the oil and gas industry. We also used regular project meetings to encourage contractors to hire local subcontractors, wherever possible.
      
  • Ajurak-Pokakjoint venture: Since the beginning of the exploration program in the Beaufort Sea in 2007, Imperial has been committed to providing employment opportunities to northern residents and businesses. As an example, Inuvialuit companies were awarded a contract for the 3D geophysical seismic acquisition program in 2008 and Inuvialuit businesses were hired to help design the field data collection program in 2009. From 2008 through to 2010, Inuvialuit community members have been key participants in the marine mammal observation program to protect marine mammals during project operations and to understand the distribution of marine mammals in the exploration licence areas.