This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2013.
John Duncan Conservative
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill.
Part 1 enacts the Nunavut Planning and Project Assessment Act, which implements certain provisions of Articles 10 to 12 of the land claims agreement between the Inuit of the Nunavut Settlement Area and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada that was ratified, given effect and declared valid by the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which came into force on July 9, 1993.
Part 2 enacts the Northwest Territories Surface Rights Board Act, which implements provisions of certain land claim agreements. In particular, that Act establishes the Northwest Territories Surface Rights Board, whose purpose is to resolve matters in dispute relating to terms and conditions of access to lands and waters in the Northwest Territories and the compensation to be paid in respect of that access.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
The Acting Speaker Bruce Stanton
Order, please. The hon. member for Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine will be taking the second part of the time.
Ryan Cleary NDP St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
There are three points with which I want to wrap up, Mr. Speaker. First, the New Democrats support consultation and consensus-based decision-making that respects the autonomy of the Government of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Second, more consultation should have been allowed under Northwest Territories surface rights board act.
Third, New Democrats, led by the member of Parliament for Western Arctic, will continue to fight for the rights of northerners and the long-term prosperity of northern communities.
Let me be clear. The New Democrats support the bill. We will vote for the bill because the intent is there and the intention is good. The bottom line is that New Democrats do not want to get in the middle of this agreement that the Government of Nunavut has negotiated. However, my party is concerned about the Northwest Territories surface rights board act and the fact that the act may have been rushed. That is why the series of the more than 50 amendments that we put forward were so important.
The Conservatives used their majority on the committee to block all those amendments: again, that the bill would be reviewed in five years, that a participant funding process would be created and that hearings would be held on the various boards and commissions in public.
How often does that happen, that the Conservatives—
The Acting Speaker Bruce Stanton
Order, please. The hon. member may have to get those last few points in during the course of questions and comments.
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord.
Jonathan Tremblay NDP Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, my colleague will have an opportunity to finish his remarks.
We proposed 50 amendments, and they were all rejected by the government. This bill is years in the making, and it is urgent that we pass it today. There are people in the north who know what the reality is, who are worried, who want their message to be heard and who want amendments to the bill.
Is my colleague also concerned about the lack of time? Will the government respect our parliamentary system?
Ryan Cleary NDP St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Mr. Speaker, the most important of those 50 amendments that our party brought forward are as follows.
The first was that the bill would be reviewed after five years. That was very important. From my perspective, that was common sense and absolutely reasonable.
The second was that the hearings of the various boards and commissions would be held in public. I also look at that as common sense.
In terms of what will happen with respect to these amendments, as the hon. member who spoke just before me mentioned, when our party is in government in 2015, that will be the opportunity to take a second look at some of these amendments to see what we can do then.
Some hon. members
Question.
The Acting Speaker Bruce Stanton
The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Some hon. members
Agreed.
On division.
Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON
Mr. Speaker, I ask that you see the clock at 6:30 p.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.