The concept of resource revenue sharing with Aboriginal peoples is no longer a fanciful idea, 
Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Ken Coates told Global TV in Saskatchewan – it’s already happening.
“This is one of those ideas that was off the table 25 years ago”, Coates told the TV station.
“(But) First Nations have been pushing it for about two decades now, it’s really found its legs. This is going to be one of the ways in which we accommodate aboriginal people in the resource economy.”
The interview sprung from Coates’ recent paper for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute on the idea of resource revenue sharing between governments and Aboriginal peoples who agree to the use of their land for development projects.
It earned him coverage in the Globe and Mail and a front-page story in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
Coates told Global that resource revenue sharing is an ideal way to strengthen support for natural resource development projects while compensating Aboriginal groups for the use of their lands.
British Columbia and Quebec are already embracing the idea, Coates said. He believes it’s also time for Saskatchewan and Alberta to adopt it as well.
