Thank you.
My name is Hughie Graham. I am president of the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce.
I'll give you a brief overview of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, the only pan-territorial voice for business in the Northwest Territories. Established in 1973, the NWT Chamber of Commerce has representation from every region of the Northwest Territories.
The chamber works to promote and create business opportunity, foster business development, and serve as a conduit for professional business relations between our members, territorial, national, and international governments.
We represent over 600 members collectively through member chambers in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Fort Smith.
The NWT is resource rich. Resources account for 34% of the NWT's GDP. Of that 34%, three diamond mines currently in production account for 90% of that GDP. Of these mines, BHP's EKATI mine is at its half-life.
The NWT runs the risk of boom-bust cycles, with future projects facing uncertain regulatory hurdles. Secondary industry suffers with the uncertainty of regulatory process, as well as aligning construction and production with market demands. One might only look at the Mackenzie Valley pipeline as opportunity lost due to regulatory uncertainty.
Some challenges that face industry in the NWT include access and infrastructure. With the completion of the Mackenzie Valley highway, a road to resources would be created. Norman Wells is a prime example of the lack of access to infrastructure in the NWT.
Husky Energy has been exploring parcels of land in the Mackenzie Valley over the past winter season. Exploration and drilling are set to increase, with more industry players joining Husky in Norman Wells.
Norman Wells is currently only serviced in winter by a roads system and in summer by barging on the Mackenzie River. Not only is the winter road season short but increased use of the winter roads caused residents of the communities on this road system to suffer due to overuse of the road.
Other mines on the horizon, such as Fortune Minerals NICO project and Prairie Creek Mine, will also need road infrastructure.
Another challenge is community capacity, small communities such as Fort Simpson with the Prairie Creek Mine and Norman Wells with Husky Energy need to build capacity to face the challenge of increased secondary industry demand.
As for markets, the Nechalacho mine on the north shore of Great Slave Lake faces real issues of missing potential market demands, much like the Mackenzie Valley gas project is doing currently.
Regarding exploration and mapping, the NWT remains largely unexplored and undermapped. This situation is being addressed somewhat through the federal government's commitment to the extension of the mineral exploration tax credit program and the commitment of the Government of the Northwest Territories to its mineral strategy.
As for aboriginal considerations, training capacities for aboriginals have been championed by the mining industry in the NWT. However, commitment from the federal government in training initiatives and education must be forefront as aboriginal populations account for half of the NWT's population.
Aboriginal consultation also needs to be clarified. We acknowledge that the Mackenzie Valley resource management boards and the federal government have recently undertaken a number of initiatives that are intended to clarify the requirements and procedures that are necessary in order to fulfill the constitutional duty to consult aboriginal peoples, and where appropriate, to accommodate any potential infringement of aboriginal rights, titles, or interests. However, considerable doubt and uncertainty still surround the role that the proponents are expected to play. There is increasing recognition within the exploration and mining sector that it needs to secure and maintain a social licence to operate, and industry is prepared to do its part. The risk of inadequately fulfilling the duty to consult is another source of uncertainty for the industry.
We also need guidance on how to ensure that the scope and intensity of consultation is proportionate to the potential of the project to infringe upon aboriginal rights or interests. From industry's perspective, there is a critical need to resolve what the crown's duty is, and what industry's role is, especially given that the duty to consult and to accommodate are fundamentally obligations of the crown.
What can the federal government do? Regulatory requires capacity-building and funding. Appointments need to be made in a timely fashion. Land claims should be settled. Land-use plans should be encouraged to proceed whether land claims are settled or not. Funding needs to be in place to facilitate the creation of land-use plans. We need to clarify aboriginal consultation. There needs to be advancement of legislative changes and timelines for projects. Community capacity needs to increase. We need to support aboriginal training funding. We need to support business capacity-building, and we need to ensure funding to participate in the regulatory process.
Thank you.