Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One of the new things they are doing at the moment--it started just before I started my review--is the board forum, which is developing a best practices approach for all the boards in the NWT and trying to share those. That was new on the scene, and that should be continued and furthered and supported by all government levels.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that's one of the key problems. It's one of the reasons I think the number of boards should be limited, in that the ability to appoint people who would have the interest and the energy to do the job we're talking about is limited with the number of people who exist in the Northwest Territories.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Chairman, there were many complaints about the fact that each of these organizations was underfunded. Whether that was accurate, I don't know, but because of that view, one of the areas that immediately suffers when there's an underfunding issue is the training and the orientation of people.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  At the end of the day, these recommendations are made by the Mackenzie Valley.... It's not all issues, but for instance, on class A water licences it's the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board that makes the decisions. Whether it be the regional boards or the central board, they make a recommendation to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and that decision is made here in Ottawa.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I suggest that once the body has been structured in a way that works and there is some maturity associated with the board, the final decision would be made at the board level. There are always court challenges that can be made in any board in any part of the world, but that decision is final and it does not come to Ottawa for that decision to be made.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Payne. It's good to be here with you from Alberta. Actually, I reread this last night on the way down, and I think I would have reworded this a little better if I'd had a little more time. Having said that, let me just talk about those three areas that I talk about.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't want to be unkind to any of them, but frankly, I don't think there was much with respect to any of those areas. There was very little orientation. I did meet with some of the new members of some of the boards, and there didn't seem to be any real effort made. Part of it was funding.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Lemay, and thank you for the compliment that you made to me. The answer to your question is yes, it should be the final decision-maker as it relates to permitting of resource development. I've never contemplated that it would be in any way the arbitrator of land claim disputes that arise out of the land claim agreements.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  With respect to other issues, other than permitting of resource development, yes, I would think that INAC would still be responsible for the decision-making until devolution actually occurs in the NWT.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In the Yukon at the moment, the permitting is actually finalized at the territorial level. In Nunavut it is not yet. There, as in the Mackenzie Valley, recommendations for development have to be made to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. So depending on which jurisdiction and where devolution is at, that would be the answer to the question.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. It varied from north to south, with the very northern end, the delta of the Inuvialuit area, believing that their regulatory system works quite well. As you know from my report, I did not make specific comments, other than general ones, about the Inuvialuit area because I think they have actually tried to make it work, are doing so, and I didn't want to touch that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What I meant by “responsible” is that it has been the practice I engaged in when I was doing a regulatory body, that you make decisions in the public interest, taking into account societal, environmental, and economic impacts, and in that respect make decisions in the public interest.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't want to repeat myself. If you examine the current structure and the current Constitution, I think the capacity problems are constituents of the various components. I think you'd see that capacity is going to continue to be an issue in that part of the world. As I say, it would be in the entire Dominion of Canada where you have to try to put 17 land and water boards together to do the job that I think needs to be done.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If you had the capacity I'm talking about in terms of professional regulatory bodies--and again, I use the word “professional” advisedly--and consistency across the boards, you probably would not, but I don't think you're going to be able to get there from here.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You're absolutely right.