Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear here today.
When my colleague Allan MacDonald appeared here last May, he acknowledged that indigenous peoples' relationships to Canada's lands, waters, and natural resources are integral to their cultures and livelihoods. You've heard from a broad cross-section of witnesses, including government, industry, environmental non-governmental organizations, and indigenous organizations, and I have no doubt that a recurring theme has been how closely we all need to work with indigenous people in ensuring Canada's conservation goals are met.
Some of my colleagues here today are speaking to how they're engaging with indigenous peoples as they move forward on conservation initiatives within their own mandates. They're not only fulfilling the obligations they have under the Constitution and treaty agreements to consult with indigenous peoples, but they're also seeking for those consultations to be a meaningful and respectful dialogue that recognizes the importance of protecting aboriginal rights and balancing indigenous interests with other societal interests. It is in the development of that respectful relationship and dialogue that reconciliation between the crown and indigenous peoples is being advanced.
Each department with the responsibility for the creation and management or co-management of protected areas has, through their own practical experience with indigenous communities, developed the mechanisms and processes that work for those departments and communities.
INAC can provide advice to departments with respect to indigenous communities that may have rights or interests in their proposed protected areas, and where appropriate can advise on consultation requirements or expectations for a particular community. On-the-ground support for engaging with indigenous peoples may also be provided through regional offices, but each department is encouraged to work directly to develop their own relationships with indigenous communities.
I'd like to detail for the committee some of the work going on in the north that can contribute to Canada's conservation goals.
The north, as you've heard today and previously, is special, in no small part because most of the territories are covered by modern-day treaty agreements. These agreements modify how the federal government implements its own tools. They also provide tools for indigenous groups, in co-operation with territorial and federal governments, to plan for conservation and development through regional land use planning.
Under the Gwich’in and Sahtu agreements of the Northwest Territories and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, regional planning is carried out by a planning board that includes appointments from the indigenous groups, the federal government, and the territorial government. The board prepares a draft plan, and the two governments and indigenous organizations consider whether to approve it. Once the plan is approved, it is required to be implemented by federal and territorial regulators and landowners, including indigenous landowners.
To give you a sense of the importance of regional land use plans to achieving conservation goals, in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories, an approved land use plan is in place that covers almost 284,000 square kilometres of the central part of the Northwest Territories, which is an area almost four times the size of New Brunswick. In that area, roughly 30,000 square kilometres are zoned for conservation, which is 10.5% of the Sahtu region that is identified through the land use plan as significant traditional, cultural, heritage, and ecological areas, and where land uses, such as mineral and oil and gas development, power development, forestry, and quarrying are not permitted.
In the Gwich’in region of the Northwest Territories, slightly to the north, the approved land use plan has also zoned roughly 10% as conservation for similar reasons and with similar restrictions on the activities that can take place in those zones.
A land use plan for all of Nunavut is under development that covers over two million square kilometres, or 20% of Canada's land mass. The plan is still being reviewed by stakeholders and indigenous communities.
It's important to note that the development and approval of the Nunavut-wide land use plan involves a complicated discussion of socio-economic and environmental interests with the intention of securing the long-term health of this land and its people.
To this end, it must be noted that land use prohibitions in the land use plan are only part of the environmental management system. The Inuit, the territorial government, and the federal government must ultimately agree concurrently on the right balance of conservation and economic activities for this land as demonstrated through the approval of the land use plan.
Regional land use plans are periodically reviewed and amended. This means they can also be responsive as new scientific or traditional knowledge comes to light that could indicate the amount of protection that is required for ecological or cultural values.
The plans can also be amended to account for the establishment of new federal conservation areas.
In short, in the territories where regional land use planning is established under modern treaties, the result has been and will continue to be a significant contribution to conserving lands and waters for ecological and cultural protection. Indigenous people, working in co-operation with governments, have identified significant tracts of land and water for effective protection.
On a broader scale, I would like to mention briefly the process established by the minister through a special representative. In March 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama issued a joint statement on climate, energy, and Arctic leadership, on the occasion of the state visit. In response to the commitments made in that statement, the Government of Canada has launched a process to engage partners in the development of a shared Arctic leadership model, part of which constitutes a new, ambitious conservation goal for the Arctic.
In August 2016, Canada appointed Ms. Mary Simon to provide advice on how to meet Canada's commitments under the joint statement. Ms. Simon is currently undertaking an engagement with a broad range of Arctic partners, including indigenous groups, territorial and provincial governments, industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations. This fall, the first phase of Ms. Simon's work will focus on developing advice on a new, ambitious conservation goal for the Arctic. In the winter, the second phase of Ms. Simon's work will continue in order to reach a final consensus on conservation goals and the development of a shared Arctic leadership model to address broader social, economic, and environmental issues raised during the engagement process.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today.