Natural Resources Committee on June 12th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you, Mr. Graham.

Thank you, Mr. Anderson.

We'll go now to Mr. Bevington.

We're going to have to leave a few minutes at the end to decide whether to go ahead with Thursday's meeting in light of what's expected to be a long voting period.

Go ahead, Mr. Bevington.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To Mr. Graham, with the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project, of course, if you remember correctly, that was a project where at the beginning of the project a cooperation plan was struck to bring together all the different environmental processes that would be engaged in the development of the pipeline. We can see the results of that. It wasn't very successful at bringing them all together. In fact, in some respects it made the work of the board very difficult to accomplish.

Quite clearly within the Northwest Territories there is a regulatory system put in place, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. It's had success. Some projects have been done in timelines that are two years or less over the course of the work.

I see that you're not asking for major changes in the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has suggested that he's going to bring forward legislation to consolidate all the land and water boards, and that's something that people in the Northwest Territories have been standing up against. They recognize that when we get into breaking constitutional agreements with first nations, we'll be into another kettle of fish.

So I really appreciate that you've focused on the types of things that can be done within the existing regulatory system to finish off the land-use plans and to increase the capacity of the boards to actually do the work. It's complex work. You've also pointed out the need for timely appointments by the federal government. This is something that's registered with us over and over again.

But when you talk about environmental degradation, we're very familiar with that in the Northwest Territories. You must admit that with many of the mines we've had developed in the Northwest Territories over the years, we've had extreme problems afterwards with the cleanups. A point in case is the Giant Mine in Yellowknife, considered one of the largest environmental problem areas in the country, with over 270,000 tonnes of arsenic buried underground, with no solution to it at all other than to keep it frozen over the next millennium. At about two megawatts of power a year, the cost to the taxpayer is going to be borne ad infinitum.

Your charter of your NWT Chamber of Commerce says quite clearly that you're in favour of sustainable development and environmental protection. That's correct. So when we talk about how important the regulatory process is to ensure that what is going on in the Northwest Territories is done in a correct fashion, I think you're on side for that, aren't you?

[Hughie Graham]

I agree. You know, we all need to be stewards of the environment. We all need to do environmentally sustainable development. When you talk about the Giant gold mine, you're talking about a mine that was developed in the thirties, when there was no regulatory body in place to make sure that reclamations were included in these mining plans.

I think going forward, as long as we consult properly and ensure that reclamation processes are put forth in mining plans—fantastic.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

You mentioned about the mines investing in hydroelectric power. Wasn't it actually, at the time, the Northern Canada Power Commission that built all the hydroelectric infrastructure on public money? It's now part of our legacy infrastructure for communities, including Yellowknife. In the South Slave, where the Pine Point Mine was built, we have the Taltson dam, which was built by Northern Canada Power Commission as well, using federal money.

So in reality, the public investment in the Northwest Territories has been, in terms of energy investment, very positive for the Northwest Territories. Is that not correct?

[Hughie Graham]

Absolutely, and it should continue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you, Mr. Bevington.

I want to thank the witnesses very much. From the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Babcock, and from the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce, Hughie Graham, thank you both very much. The information you have given us today will be very helpful in writing our report.

Now, to the committee, I just want to ask the opposition if they expect that the votes will carry us through tomorrow's meeting. If that is the case, then I suggest we postpone the meeting so that we don't have witnesses sitting here with no committee to hear them.

Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

We would agree, but I have another point as well. We're comfortable with that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay.

Is it agreed that we cancel Thursday's meeting?

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Julian and I agree that the meeting should be cancelled.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay.

It is agreed by the committee that we will cancel the committee meeting.

Mr. Anderson, is there something else?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I was talking to Mr. Julian before the meeting. I think we need 20 minutes to half an hour in either Tuesday's or Thursday's meeting to discuss future business. We have a report to discuss. I also talked about potentially doing some travelling in the fall. If we can schedule that in for whatever meeting works better, maybe we'll let you do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay. We'll work on that. We'll schedule that in so we know where the committee is heading next fall. We don't re-establish committees in the fall now. We just carry on from the spring and summer session.

Thank you all very much for your input today.

If there's no further business, the meeting is adjourned.