Evidence of meeting #5 for Natural Resources in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was projects.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:15 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister , Minerals and Metals Sector, Department of Natural Resources
Essentially, I'll answer your question about geoscience and our data banks and so on. The geoscience information is public, and so it is very much in the public domain—and we, in fact, do it so that companies can use it. It's one of the unique features of this country that we actually do, making it available for anybody, to stimulate investment.
I'm going to ask Ginny to try to answer your first question, and we'll see if there's time for the royalties question.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Minerals, Metals and Materials Policy Branch, Department of Natural Resources
I believe the outstanding question was on the regulatory side.
South of 60, the Major Projects Management Office has timeframes within which it works. Once a proponent brings in a project description, and it's fully acceptable and departments have acknowledged they have to make a regulatory decision, the process will take two years. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was just amended, and for comprehensive studies, they have reduced that timeline even further, I believe, to one year. So there are fairly stringent timelines. That being said, the clock can stop if proponents don't provide the necessary information as they go through the process.
As to your other question about the different decision-making and who makes the decision on what type of environmental assessment there will be, that is based on the legislation. There is a law list that decides which projects has a comprehensive study versus a screening level study, and then the Minister of the Environment undertakes whether there will be a review panel or not, based on public interest and the environmental impacts.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Explosives Safety and Security Branch, Department of Natural Resources
I'll quickly deal with geoscience and royalties.
One dollar in public geoscience usually generates four or five dollars in private sector spending, because you're usually going from regional scale mapping to project specific mapping, which is like a 1:50,000 ratio as opposed to 1:250.
In terms of what obligation companies have to disclose their work, again, most provincial as well as territorial mineral tenure regimes have a requirement for the company to post its geoscience findings to keep its claims in good stead, if you will. So there is a fair degree of disclosure. Clearly, if you're a competitor, you have to go data-mining, but most mining recorders' offices have those reports if they are submitted.
In terms of royalties, the federal government, through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, does collect royalties based on the value of production for both diamonds and gold. In Meadowbank I think the transfer from the federal government to the NWT was in excess of $1 billion. I think maybe $300 million in royalties was collected. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development collects the royalty, which is submitted to the Receiver General and then gets paid out through equalization payments, and those kinds of things.
The only direct calculation we do north of 60 is for the claimant groups that have settled a comprehensive land claim. There is a resource revenue-sharing calculation that's prescribed through their respective comprehensive land claims.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Leon Benoit
Thank you very much.
Thank you all for what I think was a very informative and helpful first meeting.
I'm going to suspend the meeting for about a minute to go in camera.
Anyone who isn't eligible to be here in camera, I ask you to leave.
We will come back and do a short meeting on future business.
[Proceedings continue in camera]