[Witness speaks in Gwich'in]
Mahsi Cho. Thank you.
I'm Stan Njootli, deputy chief, from Old Crow.
I will read a statement for the record and probably make my own statements after that.
The Vantut Gwitchin government supports the position expressed by other Yukon first nations and CYFN in today's proceedings. With limited time, I will speak specifically about our collective concerns with amendments to YESAA that allow for delegation of authority and exemption from assessment.
The first proposed change to YESAA would allow the federal minister to delegate authority to the Yukon government. This amendment would establish a bilateral federal-territorial process for distribution of responsibilities and powers under YESAA. It excludes Yukon first nations from the discussions and is contrary to the nature of decision-making envisioned in our modern-day land claims agreement.
Mechanisms that have been used in the past to define distribution of power include our final agreements that were directly negotiated by the three parties and in devolution transfer agreements in which Canada, Yukon, and first nations negotiated a devolution protocol accord to establish negotiating principles. The distribution of powers and responsibilities among federal, territorial, and first nations governments can only be resolved through discussions among all the parties. It must not be handed to a single party or a single person, in this case the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development of Canada. It also must not be constrained to distribution among only two of the three parties that are involved in this agreement.
I want to provide some detail about our concerns with clause 14, proposed subsection 49.1, in the bill that provides a general exemption from assessment when an authorization is renewed or amended unless, in the opinion of a decision body for the project, there is a significant change to the original project.
As stated in the final agreement, one objective of YESAA is to provide for comprehensive and timely review of the environmental and socio-economic effects of any project before the approval of that project. Achieving this objective is not related to whether an authorization is renewed or amended. It is about the scope of a project and the effects that may have been considered in previous assessments. Federal, Yukon, and first nations governments are prohibited from issuing permits or licences to projects unless they have been assessed under YESAA.
For renewals and amendments, if it is decided that the project has already been assessed, then no further assessment is required. These provisions already exist. The Bill S-6 approach on the other hand proposes to create a general exemption that lacks the test of whether the scope of the project was considered in previous assessments and whether the effects have been previously assessed. Under this general exemption, projects that will have significant adverse environmental or social effects, including those that affect other modern-day treaties or land claims agreements, could proceed without assessment or appropriate mitigation. These provisions will also create extremely challenging tasks for the assessors and the proponents as they are forced to consider the effects of a project for long periods. Some projects could be 100 years or more. Not only is this impractical and likely to result in failure to achieve the objectives of chapter 12, but it will have the unintended consequences of delaying projects because of the increased likelihood of designated offices bumping assessments to executive committee level, or it could result in a determination that the project should not proceed due to significant adverse impact.
To conclude my comments about the proposed exemptions from assessment, I want to highlight that Bill S-6 conflicts with the recommendations from the five-year review that has already been implemented and is proving effective. The YESAB made changes to its policies with respect to the scope of a project it considers in its assessment. By unilaterally initiating this proposed amendment, Canada is reneging on the agreements we reached during the five-year review.
In conclusion, I would like to share my perspective on the importance of YESAA to the Vuntut First Nation. The Vuntut First Nation was among one of the first first nations to sign final agreements with the federal government. From these agreements, the Vuntut First Nation formed its own government.
What I would like to see, between me and you, is that you come to Old Crow and we do a wilderness trip. We'll go on the river and see what it's like there, how pristine that river is. We drink water from that river. Fifty years from now, I want to see the children of this community walk down to that river and drink that water. I think this assessment should allow that to happen when they assess projects that are going to affect that pristine area on the Porcupine River.
I'm inviting you this summer on a boat trip. What do you think about that?