Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 19th, 2009

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Okay. With respect to the Northwest Territories water stewardship strategy, who is providing the thrust of the work in terms of the department in your territorial government?

[Michael Miltenberger]

We've taken the whole process through our cabinet. Environment and Natural Resources has the lead, and we've been working very closely with INAC and the aboriginal governments.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

So you've been developing that. You've been working consultatively with INAC, but it's largely a project driven by your cabinet?

[Michael Miltenberger]

Yes.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Okay.

In July, we had announced...well, previous to July, but over the course of the year we've announced a number of infrastructure projects. My riding is only about a third of the size, but certainly we face a number of similar challenges with hydro transmission, and those are legacy files that we hope to work on. That said, there were four rounds of funding through Canada's economic action plan, and I understand that a number of these were delivered to the municipal and rural infrastructure fund.

Can you comment on the amount of resources provided by the federal government for the projects through the MRIF?

[Michael Miltenberger]

I can tell you that as a jurisdiction we have been very successful working with the federal government. Our capital program for the year we're still in was about $700 million, which is the single largest capital plan in our history. The one coming up next year is going to be probably the second largest, and it's because we've been able to partner up and cost share with the infrastructure money--

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

That's exciting, Mr. Miltenberger.

[Michael Miltenberger]

A significant portion of that has gone directly to communities.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I understand. I have a list here, and from what I can see, there seems to be a certain polyvalence here--

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We're out of time actually, Mr. Rickford. We'll have time for another round if you want to come back. Maybe just hold that thought.

We now move on to the next large riding.

You have five minutes, Mr. Gaudet.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for your presentations in both English and French, our country's two official languages.

Premier, you stated the following in your presentation: “Without this authority, we have little power to influence or control NWT land management decisions and to ensure that more of the benefits from resource development accrue to NWT residents.”

What demands are you making of the federal government?

[Floyd Roland]

Regarding the resource revenue sharing portion that we've put forward right now, we waited.... For example, the previous government initiated the equalization work that was done, and part of that work involved the resource revenue sharing portion. So when the work was done and the announcement was made that 50% would be included as part of a calculation and 50% excluded, we thought it was very good, because in the Northwest Territories we get zero; a very small percentage, maybe 8% of that is specific to territorial government.

We liked that message. Unfortunately, there was a yet-to-be-defined cap, which later followed. For example, with the Mackenzie gas pipeline, the numbers that we looked at, the lion's share would still flow to the federal government. We would gain some out of this. In fact, in my meetings next week with the regional aboriginal leaders we will discuss again how we re-engage with the federal government on devolution of resource revenue sharing.

I don't want to put numbers out before I have that opportunity, but we have had a joint working group and we'll continue to proceed on that basis. The federal government has been positive in re-engaging on that file, but what kind of final result will there be? The territories are different from provinces, so it's always slightly different when it comes to how it's measured.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

My next question is for Mr. Miltenberger.

You note the following in your presentation: “Protecting land and water is a high priority for our residents, many of whom rely on the land for a subsistence lifestyle. Land management is a shared jurisdiction between federal, territorial and aboriginal governments.”

What expectations do you have of the federal government as far as these issues are concerned?

[Michael Miltenberger]

The expectation is that as part of devolution we would have the authority over land that we currently don't have and more say over what happens with resource development, the impact on the ecosystems. Right now we have some say. There are gaps in the regulatory regimes; there are gaps in the policies. As I indicated with our water strategy, the legal authority resides right now with the federal government, and we are using the political and moral authority we believe we have to speak on behalf of the residents of the Northwest Territories.

We also have significant concerns about what's happening outside our boundaries. We're the ultimate downstream jurisdiction in the Mackenzie River basin. We are due north of Alberta, B.C., and Saskatchewan, and there are major developments with dams and other developments that impact the water systems that flow this way. Right now we're trying to make sure we can protect those interests, and the more authority we have, the better we'll be able to do that, we believe.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

You have one minute left.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

What is the total budget that the federal government allocates annually to the NWT?

[Michael Miltenberger]

It's nearly $1 billion, combined capital and O and M. Our total budget is about $1.3 billion.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Thank you, Mr. Gaudet.

Now we'll go to Mr. Clarke for five minutes.

Mr. Clarke.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the premier and his hardworking crew for coming in so early this morning for our meetings.

I'll first go right to one of the flyers that I noticed here and the Denesuline in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We're talking about economic development for aboriginals: the Métis, the Dene, and the Inuit.

I know there's a big land claim going on right now that's in the process of being negotiated between the federal government and the northern Saskatchewan Dene, and also with the aboriginals, first nations, in the NWT. Can you tell me what the progress is, where they stand right now, or how it is progressing? And in what kind of timeline could this land claim be settled?

[Floyd Roland]

We have a number of land claims, self-government discussions, going on in the same area that would be affected by the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Denesuline. The Akaitcho are in the region, and they include a group in the Yellowknife area as well, the Treaty 8 group, which has been working with the federal government and ourselves, negotiating for quite a number of years to try to proceed on that. We also have overlap with the NWT Métis Nation, or Métis, in a similar area, and that involves a couple of other communities.

As those discussions are going on, we've also had ongoing discussions, for almost 10 years, with the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Denesuline and the federal government in areas....as to how that gets addressed, what type of compensation would be sought, and what type of land would be sought as well. Again, it comes back to having an overall mapped plan, a comprehensive plan, for the Northwest Territories.

We are players at the table. We can help influence to a certain degree, but the ultimate decisions are made by others outside of the territory, and they affect the design of our governance structures, claim by claim almost. On top of that, we have other groups reaching into north of 60 to make other claims as well, which further frustrates another aboriginal group and ourselves when it comes to trying to build that healthy relationship.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

How much more time do I have?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Two and a half minutes.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Fantastic.

I was looking at SINED, the strategic initiative for northern economic development. I understand there was $90 million divided among the three territories over five years.

Could you tell me how much the NWT got and what they're going to be allocating or using these funds for?

[Peter Vician]

Thank you for the question.

The SINED program, in the past five years, has allocated $30 million to each of the three territories. The plan is to allocate $30 million targeted to each of the three territories. The actual allocation within the territories depends on, again, program evaluation and overhead support that may draw down a bit of that $30 million.

What I spoke to in my statement was basically priority setting for the SINED investment over the next four to five years, the geoscience tourism and support to small business being the key priorities that we've identified.