Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We agree.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Concerning the agreement on the expansion of the boundaries of Nahanni National Park, which was resolved, there was significant involvement by the territorial governments in the initiative from both the Northwest Territories and the Yukon government. The final boundaries were determined by negotiation involving the two territories and the federal government.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As was mentioned earlier, in 2007 the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development appointed a special representative to produce what we call the McCrank report, which is entitled The Road to Improvement. That report was delivered to the minister in July 2008. It listed 22 recommendations concerning the regulatory process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As you well know, Mr. Bevington, we are a long way from power. We're relying on diesel power, so we're not going to get it. We would love to have hydro supplied to the mines. It would make a huge difference in our economics.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I believe it does exist in all three territories.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, but I think in addition to depreciation against the royalties there is the corporate depreciation against income tax. All investment in capital would be a write-off or a credit against normal corporate tax. On the royalty side, you have a slightly different situation. The royalty is theoretically paid to the owner of the underlying resource, and the deductibilities for the resource calculation are different from those for the income tax calculation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think from the mining company's point of view, if there was only one level of government, it would naturally be easier. But I think one of the messages that we tried to communicate to the committee today is the necessity for political support for development. That is the simple message, that development is important.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There has been significant improvement in the federal appointments recently. Positions have been filled. Frankly, we would suggest there are probably too many boards--that's another issue. But there are too many boards, and there's a capacity issue in finding the appropriately qualified people who have the time and who wish to sit on the board.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First of all, I'm very familiar with northern Quebec. In a previous company, I operated in the Chibougamau area for quite a number of years. The situation with the Cree of northern Quebec is a good example of progress that has been made in the provinces that needs to be made in the territories.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Bagnell. I believe there certainly are significant differences between the territories and the provinces and indeed between the territories themselves. The difference, I would suggest, is primarily in the regulatory regime. The issue of taxation is not the main difference, not the main priority.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. As the chairman indicated, I am chairman and chief executive of Canadian Zinc Corporation. I'm also the president of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. I'm a director of the Mining Association of Canada and a member of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Canadian Zinc owns the Prairie Creek lead-zinc-silver mine in the Northwest Territories in the Mackenzie Mountains. This is a unique situation, a unique project, in that the mine was built 30 years ago. It's 30 years old, but it's brand-new. It has never operated. Like many other projects, that's a colourful story, but it's not a story for today.