Thank you very much.
First, I'm glad that you can relate to that project with your personal experience in the past. Again, that speaks a little bit to the history that all Canadians have with the natural resources sector and mining. You don't have to look too far before you can point to somebody you may know who is working in the industry, which is a good sign, I think.
You're absolutely right. The regulatory environment that we have in Canada is often cited as one of the biggest challenges, especially when you're talking to foreign investors. And when we look at the north, it just makes it that much more complicated, because we are in the process of devolving the responsibilities north of 60 to essentially where the system is south of 60.
So I'll speak specifically to north of 60. If you look at the three territories themselves, in Yukon back in 2003 we devolved those responsibilities, and there is essentially one entity that investors can go to when trying to get the necessary approvals to proceed. Similarly in Nunavut, with the land claims well in hand, there's one entity that companies can go to for, if you like, approvals and so on. I'll ask Ginny to get into a little bit more detail on the various elements.
In the Northwest Territories, there are some 13 boards that get involved in various elements from surface rights to land use planning, water, land use, and other aspects. So, absolutely, it is a bit more complicated, and given the devolving structure it just takes a little bit longer to get that balance between the environmental protection and treaty rights, where that is applicable, to allow aboriginal people to get involved and benefit from the development and, obviously, the economic potential.
With that, I'll ask my colleague Ginny to give you a little bit more detail in each of the three jurisdictions, if I may, Chair.