Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I too would like to thank the committee for travelling north to Yukon today to hear the concerns of Yukoners with respect to Bill S-6.
The YESAB has some personal connections for me. I was one of the original board members. I actually sat on the executive committee from 2004 to 2007 with, among others, Chief Sidney of the Teslin Tlingit Council, who I understand will appear before you later on this morning.
This legislation is certainly about more than just mining projects, although those get an awful lot of headlines and traction here in the territory. Energy projects, agriculture, forestry, transportation, oil and gas, essentially anything that requires a licence or a permit has to go through the environmental assessment process. I understand that about 220 projects per year are assessed by the board so far at two of the levels: the designated office evaluation and the executive committee screening. We've yet to see a panel review in the territory, but for the most part, the majority get done at that designated office evaluation level.
When it came into effect in the early years, YESAA was widely regarded as one of the most progressive pieces of environmental assessment legislation and process in the country, and a lot of that is owed to the timelines and the certainty that it brought. In more recent years though, the reputation has slipped somewhat, and I think there is an opportunity for us to address the licensing and assessment of these projects in the territory through some of the amendments that are proposed here in Bill S-6 as well as through some of the work the Yukon government is doing with respect to water licensing and the quartz mine licensing.
One of the documents we provided to the committee is the 2013 report of the Yukon Minerals Advisory Board. This is a board of individuals appointed by the Yukon government and involved in the mining industry. They produce an annual report, which we table in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. I'd like to read into the record the conclusion of their report, from the second paragraph on page 7:
In 2013 however, as reflected in this report, YMAB chose to focus on what industry has determined is the key issue negatively impacting the industry; the deterioration in the efficiency and reliability of the assessment and licensing of mining projects in the territory.
It goes on to say:
The system has become more costly, cumbersome and protracted and the Yukon’s mineral industry is developing an increasingly negative image as an attractive investment destination.
It goes on to conclude that paragraph:
There is a clear urgency for the Government of Yukon to act.