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Forests are the locus of conflict in Canada, where the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples can collide with those of the province (Crown) and the forest industry. Efforts to achieve "forest justice" — or sufficient forest rights to meet the self-governance goals of Indigenous peoples, and in ways that ensure collective resilience — have typically been driven by the principle of reconciliation. In this paper, these "forest justice" efforts were examined through a tripartite justice theory, involving recognition, representation, and redistribution pathways. This paper documents that recognition involves Crown efforts to recognize Indigenous peoples' forest rights, including ownership, and access and use rights; representation includes improved participation in forest governance; and redistribution covers the allocation of timber harvesting rights and forest lands to Indigenous peoples. This study documents that the bulk of "forest justice" activity is focused on the redistribution of timber harvesting licences, the volume of which has doubled over the last two decades. These three paths to justice must all be pursued together to deliver "forest justice", and to move towards "reconciliation in the woods". Recommendations are offered to support forest justice in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses survey information to examine several common assertions about the institutional prerequisites for successful profitability when a First Nation enters an economic enterprise either independently or in joint effort with an outside firm. In the winter of 2004–2005, we interviewed managers on both the First Nations and private sides of joint ventures and other business alliances in Canada, to determine what affected their recent profitability experience. We gathered information on the ages, sizes, and activities of the firms. We also gathered information about the firms’ management structures and relationship with the First Nation, and the characteristics of the government of the First Nation. With a sample size of 40 firms that responded, we found that several institutional characteristics affected profit positively: strong separation of management from band governance, participation in management planning, and the use of staggered terms in band council elections. We found that the likelihood of profitability decreased if the band had been in third party management as well as if there was formal participation of elders or hereditary chiefs in decision making. We offer interpretations of these results. Cet article utilise les données d’un sondage réalisé au cours de l’hiver 2004–2005 afin d’examiner plusieurs assertions courantes au sujet des préalables institutionnels requis pour atteindre la profitabilité des entreprises initiées par des Premières nations agissant seules ou en partenariat avec des acteurs privés. Nous avons interviewé des gestionnaires impliqués dans de tels partenariats d’affaires au Canada et provenant tant des Premières nations que du secteur privé. Nous voulions déterminer ce qui affectait la profitabilité qu’ils avaient connue récemment. Nous avons rassemblé de l’information sur l’âge, la taille et les activités des entreprises. Nous avons aussi recueilli des données sur la structure de gestion des entreprises, les relations avec les Premières nations et les caractéristiques de la gouvernance en vigueur dans les communautés d’accueil. Un échantillon, regroupant les quarante entreprises qui ont répondu, nous permet d’observer que plusieurs caractéristiques institutionnelles, comme la séparation claire entre la gestion des projets et la gouvernance des communautés, la participation dans la planification managériale et le recours à des mandats échelonnés lors des élections au conseil de bande, affectent positivement les profits. Nous avons aussi remarqué que les chances de profitabilité diminuent si les conseils de bandes jouent un rôle en tant que de tierce partie dans la gestion des entreprises et si les aînés ou les chefs héréditaires participent formellement au processus décisionnel. Nous tentons d’interpréter ces résultats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]