Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I've only been in my position with the board for the last three years, but it's my understanding that there was an external negotiator who at some point was hired to try to bring some resolution. But in the three years I've been the executive director there's been no movement in that regard.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'd probably defer that to Stephanie to be more specific on what NUPPAA is doing as far as timelines go.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The Nunavut land claim provides that the boards are required to cooperate to eliminate duplication and streamline the process. From my understanding, having seen previous bills from NUPPAA, they are considering the same conditions. I haven't seen NUPPAA to confirm that it is in the bill.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would suggest that it's a separate issue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  From our perspective, in our legislation--to use an example--there are actually timelines on the federal government. In some cases they meet those timelines, and in others they do not. In the overall consultation process, again, we rely heavily on the federal departments as key experts and witnesses in the area of environment, transportation, health, and things like that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We get core funding from the federal government to deal with our core operations and day to day for our annual budget. We are a project-driven board, and because we are a project-driven board, we don't necessarily know. Based on the level of the economy, when we did an assessment three years ago, we forecast that there wouldn't have been enough weeks this year alone to do the projects that we had initially forecast.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Let's assume that there is a mine development project or a project proposal that gets submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board for their environmental assessment review. That process can take, I'll say, just as an example, two years. Once they've made their decision and the minister has acknowledged the decision, the water board process starts.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I'll try to answer that. As far as the uses of the land and any differences are concerned, there is a mechanism established. In Nunavut, there is one component of the land, federal crown land, that is administered by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. But there are also Inuit-owned lands that are administered by the regional Inuit associations, and there are sub-surface lands that are administered through Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  When a proponent submits an application, it's within their ability to determine where their interests lie and where the best land to use for their project is. To date, I can't think of any conflicts that have been realized. If there is a conflict that cannot be resolved that has been brought to the table by an applicant who wants to use the land and it's an issue of compensation for that project, and if the Inuit-owned land body under article 20 and the company cannot agree, the water board then becomes the mediator between those companies to try to resolve any conflicts on those land issues.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. Our membership is the same; it's eight members of the board and the chairman. All of our appointments are made through the Minister of Indian Affairs. We have no direct appointments from the Government of Nunavut. We at present are sitting at seven members.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, with the water board you never want to presume the evidence that would be presented and the requirements that we require in the water licensing process. Each decision is made based on the merits of each application. I would say that just because it gets through the Nunavut impact review process, it's not an automatic given that you actually are going to get a water licence.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That would be very difficult to speculate. Each project is assessed on its own merits. The mandate of the board and the object of the board is to ensure that fresh water is protected for the benefit of Nunavummiut and of all Canadians in general. That's the goal of any decision that the board makes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. Mr. Chairman, I think it needs to be clarified that there's one very clear difference between the Nunavut Water Board and NIRB as it relates to legislation. We actually have the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act in place, which goes beyond the NLCA as it relates to the management of waters in Nunavut.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It could be DFO, but it could be Environment Canada under the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act. It could be any party that is responsible or has legislation in place that governs marine waters.