Environment committee  Thanks for that question. One of the most profound impacts of those diamond mines has been multiple generations of aboriginal people around those sites being able to participate in the economic opportunities that were generated to leverage those economic opportunities to improve quality of life and to advance future generations' ability to do it.

Environment committee  It did indeed.

Environment committee  They had to roam quite large surface areas before they could find what they were looking for.

Environment committee  That's a great question. Thank you. I should start by clarifying that we do represent exploration and development, so our sister association is the Mining Association of Canada, and they do some phenomenal work in supporting their members to work on reclamation. In general, what I can say is that in every jurisdiction there are strong closure plan requirements as part of the mining acts, so today's industry is not the same as it was 50 years ago.

Environment committee  I think there is no argument from PDAC that there are going to be areas that have such ecological or cultural significance that they should be withdrawn from the claim-staking system. For example, in Ontario, Lesley and I have been very involved with the Mining Act reforms, and one of the things there was no argument from industry about was that sites of aboriginal significance should be taken right off the map.

Environment committee  —the potential is not included.

Environment committee  Thank you for that question. The focus for us is really on the process. The way you find the balance is by bringing the diverse perspectives together. We believe in that landscape-scale dialogue process, which will allow the people who are directly impacted by the landscape to share their different values and balance out where those ecologically sensitive areas are that really shouldn't be touched, along with where, as Dr.

Environment committee  Good afternoon, Madam Chair and committee members. Thank you for this opportunity to speak here today. For those of you who are not familiar with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, or PDAC, we represent the Canadian mineral exploration and development industry.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our two associations have spoken about this in detail, and we've decided our message would be that a minor variant is best left to be determined under the applicable land use plan.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll defer to the NPC.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thanks for the question. I think there are few dimensions here. Maybe I'll speak to the impact of uncertainty on exploration and perhaps Rick and Pierre can talk about the impact of uncertainty on mine development. The first point is that when you invest scarce resources in an exploration project, your probability of success is fairly low, so security of mineral tenure becomes a critical component of why you'd be willing to make that initial investment and how you can convince investors to finance you, because the junior exploration sector, in contrast to the mining sector, doesn't generate revenue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, exactly. The security of mineral tenure at the exploration stage becomes the critical precondition for the financing that generates that high-risk investment. When you work in an area where you have unsettled land claims or massive interim land withdrawals, such as in the Dehcho area and the Akaitcho area, exploration companies are going to be less likely to invest there, all other things being equal, than in an area where there's a settled land claim, where there's a land use plan, and where the communities are on board and have been engaged by a planning commission to identify their cultural sites of significance, their hunting and gathering practices, and so on.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We would.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Since the comments on the amendments are for this presentation, I'll start with one, perhaps, and then turn it over. Recognizing that you haven't had a chance to review it, let me just enter into the record my hope that for our next submission we will have a chance to have that dialogue before coming here.