Evidence of meeting #10 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
11:40 a.m.
As an Individual
I wanted to make sure that the chair of the new board had the ability to send people to a region to allow the people in the region to see their application being disposed of in that region, and I think that's written into the legislation.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
So that was based on direct feedback you heard as you were consulting on that?
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
So you would not necessarily agree, then, with the comments we heard before, which were that the concerns of the local regions or the first nations of that area...that they weren't offered that opportunity or that this was a surprise to them that this composition has changed. I mean, it made it sound as though today was the first time that they had heard of this.
11:40 a.m.
As an Individual
No, I think there was knowledge about what I was doing. We had discussions. This term “super-board” came up a long time ago.
I think we have tried to make it available to the chairperson of the new board to address those regional issues by sending people to adjudicate in the region from whence that application comes.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Mr. Leef, Mr. Hagen did have some comments in responding, I think.
11:40 a.m.
Chair, Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.
I guess one point is missing from all the presentations is this fifty-fifty split on the appointment of board members. You have to remember that the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board is a public board. You can be appointed from any of the regions, but once you're appointed, you represent the residents of the Northwest Territories and Canada. You don't represent your interests or your region. You speak for the whole Northwest Territories.
I think that's a very important point to remember. You may have people from these regions, but once they're on the board, they are now speaking for the public. I think that's a very important point that's been missed.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you, Mr. Hagen.
Mr. Bevington, we'll turn to you for the next questions.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
Well, I'll just make a comment here on this NWT-Yukon business that you hung your hat on, it seems, when you looked at the two, Mr. McCrank. In 2009-10 when you did your work, there was a tenfold exponential GDP on mining in the Northwest Territories compared to the Yukon.
We're engaged in mining in a very big way here. We have very successful mines here. Our economy is very much tied to it. The Yukon, on the other hand, is still struggling to build that successful mining economy. When I look at exploration, what I see, interestingly enough, is that in the last year, the NWT, under the existing regulatory system, now has doubled the Yukon expenditures on exploration.
I find this whole comparison routine that you, the federal government, and this Conservative Party have gone on about between our two territories totally inappropriate. It's really a Mickey Mouse way of trying to deal with very significant and serious issues here in the Northwest Territories. So what you've done now.... You've explained it very clearly in the discussion you had with my colleague. I don't think we have to go into it any further, but that's the reality of it.
Here's my question to you. In your process, when was the first time that anyone—and I'd like you to tell me who—suggested the amalgamation of the boards to you? Which group in the Northwest Territories or which group at the federal level first put that proposal on the table in your time?
11:45 a.m.
As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Bevington.
Let me answer the first question first.
11:45 a.m.
As an Individual
Well, I want to make a comment on the comment you made, that I hung my hat on the comparison between the Yukon and the NWT. I was responding to a question by the honourable member about the issue of why there's this disparity in the Yukon versus the disparity in the NWT between those who believe that development can take place and those who don't, and in the Yukon, where they seem to be ad idem.
My indication was that I have no explanation for that. I think we could learn a lot from the way the Yukon have conducted their business. But I have not hung my hat on it, nor was it ever part of my report that the system in the NWT should be changed because of what is happening in the Yukon. I was responding to a question by the honourable member.
The second question was regarding who suggested that the boards be amalgamated. I don't think I can give you a specific answer for that. It certainly was not the federal government. They gave me no instruction. Minister Strahl said it is an open book, take a look at the regulatory system, and with your experience come up with some suggestions, if there are any, for improvement.
During the course of that four or five months that I spent mostly in the NWT, it became clear that based on the criteria that we had all talked about for a regulatory system, not all of those criteria could be met by the current structure. It was not understandable. It was very complex.
Secondly, there was a capacity issue that wasn't being addressed because of it, and as a result—
11:45 a.m.
NDP
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
This won't come off your time, Mr. Bevington.
I just want to remind audience members that cameras are not allowed during the hearings. They're allowed afterwards. I just want to remind folks of that.
I apologize, Mr. Bevington. We'll turn back to the questioning.
11:45 a.m.
As an Individual
If it was my idea...and it may have come out of the discussion. It was clearly a matter for discussion, at this very round table, in terms of the number of boards. There was general agreement, as I saw it. In fact, as I say, parties were saying, “Take some significant action with respect to this, because there is a problem.”
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
So you, as the ex-chair of the Alberta energy utility board.... Was that your role?
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
So you, dealing with an Alberta structure, came back with a decision for us in the Northwest Territories about how we should be structured here, even though we're a completely different and unique jurisdiction. If you had looked at the constitutional development of the Northwest Territories over the past 25 years, you probably would have realized that this is a much more complex opportunity for first nations, for Inuvialuit people, than exists in Alberta.
Mr. Pollard, when—
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
Mr. Bevington has made an assertion.
My role, when I came to this post, was not to try to emulate what went on in Alberta. In fact, I don't think you can see any comparison between what was eventually recommended and what is in Alberta. My role, having been involved with regulatory bodies across this country—the Ontario Energy Board, and boards in the Maritimes and Quebec—was to put all of that together, with the consultation and the people I spoke to, and come up with some suggested improvements.
That's what it was. It wasn't to emulate any specific board. I'll be the first to defend Alberta, if you ask me that, but that was not the purpose, nor did it in any way, shape, or form result in that kind of an approach.