Evidence of meeting #59 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site.) The winning word was public.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
My understanding is the implementation contracts are renegotiated on a cycle at which point all the matters for funding the implementation of the agreement are conducted.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
The cycle is lagging now, so how long will people have to wait to get the funding for this current piece of legislation?
Director General, Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
As our legal counsel indicated, there will be a period of time between when this legislation is passed and when it comes into effect to allow for discussions.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Can you give us a time estimate? Will it be one year, two years, five years, ten years?
Director General, Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
The concept that we were thinking about was a year minimum before the act came into—
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
We'll pull this witness testimony and a year later we'll be able to sit down with you and discuss progress on the funding implementation of this agreement.
Director General, Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
The contract will be negotiated for the implementation of this bill in that period of time before the act comes into effect.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Chair, perhaps I could ask the clerk to make a note that in a year we will recall these witnesses to discuss the funding implementation.
Have I any time left?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
There is about 20 seconds.
You will recall, Ms. Crowder, with regard to the coming into force within the legislation it is two years in the Northwest Territories.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
I just heard the witnesses say that within a year—and I'm talking about the Nunavut Planning Commission and the Nunavut Impact Review Board. Within a year I'm expecting to hear about some funding.
You allowed Ms. Ambler time when she had 20 seconds.
With regard to schedule 3, we did hear some concerns from the witnesses about how schedule 3 would be developed. Could you tell us what the process for developing schedule 3 would be?
Environmental Policy Analyst, Environmental Policies and Studies, Northern Affairs, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Yes, I can. Schedule 3 consists of projects that have been agreed to between the Nunavut Impact Review Board and a minister under the agreement, schedule 12-1, item 7 of the agreement, that should be excluded from the requirement for screening.
The board has already made such agreements with some ministers. We intend to work with the board before the coming into force to ensure that all those agreements that are in place now are included in the schedule.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you very much.
We'll now go to Mr. Seeback, for five minutes.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Brampton West, ON
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Paula, thanks for your opening statement. I thought it was helpful for the committee on a number of levels.
One of the things I want to do is to drill down quickly on your statement that all the parties who provided feedback received written responses to their comments indicating what accommodation measures had been included in the draft proposal or why the accommodation measures were not or could not be included. I take it there was a significant amount of back and forth that went on through the development of this legislation.
In that context, looking at the amendments that have been submitted both by NIRB and NTI, were these amendments that were passed back and forth during this process commented on, and were the reasons the accommodation couldn't be made passed on? I'm not saying all the amendments in the submissions, but a lot of them, none of them, most of them.
What would you say about that?
Environmental Policy Analyst, Environmental Policies and Studies, Northern Affairs, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
I would say almost all of them were. There were a few that we had not been aware of during the consultations with the working group.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Brampton West, ON
Is it fair to say that bringing these submissions back to the committee has been like a second kick at the can? Is that a fair description?
Environmental Policy Analyst, Environmental Policies and Studies, Northern Affairs, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
For many of them there's an opportunity for the witnesses to the committee to express those interests again, yes.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Brampton West, ON
With respect to those submissions, my point is that you already likely provided reasons to those organizations for why those accommodation measures were not or could not be included, so they would have that information before they came back to the committee.
Environmental Policy Analyst, Environmental Policies and Studies, Northern Affairs, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Yes.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Brampton West, ON
Tom, being counsel, might be able to answer this a bit better than others, but feel free, anybody, to answer.
When I look at some of the amendments, for example to proposed section 134 and subsection 135(6), proposed by NIRB, they seem to be more along the lines of language and drafting. Would you say that a lot of these amendments that are being put forward are more drafting issues between two legal parties trying to get the language right in an agreement? That's my general view of a lot of them. It takes me back to law school when I looked at drafting agreements. I never did it after that.
What would you say to that comment?
Senior Counsel, Negotiations, Northern Affairs and Federal Interlocuter, Department of Justice
I would agree that several of the amendments being sought are drafting issues. In several cases the legislative drafters were seeking consistency with the statute book as a whole when they chose particular language that was different from the language being sought by NTI. Sometimes it was a situation where we didn't think a particular clause was necessary to get the point across, whereas the other parties did.
So yes, there were several instances where it boiled down to a drafting issue. The difference of opinion was largely that the other party would consider the issue to have some substance to it and we would consider it to merely be drafting.
February 7th, 2013 / 9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Brampton West, ON
Right, okay. That was my view of it.
On a bit more substantive question, in NTI's submissions to the committee, they indicated that some parts of the land use plans may not be implemented if the bill is not amended to include Governor in Council definition of the parties that have this responsibility.
My question is whether you're concerned at all with this, especially with respect to establishing a park.
Director General, Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement makes a distinction between cabinet that approves land use plans and the department and agencies that implement them. We don't think this is a gap, because there is a process for examining proposals to establish a park described in the agreement that has been carried forward into this bill. It involves the Nunavut Planning Commission deciding whether park proposals conform to the plan and the Nunavut Impact Review Board assessing potential impacts of establishing a park, and responsible ministers then responding to the board's recommendations. In our view this is the intended design of the system, and it's the reason the agreement distinguishes between the role of cabinet and departments and agencies.
Conservative
Conservative
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would just like to ask Mr. Keesey which jurisdictions in Canada do not have a free entry system.