Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have a mine in Mexico, and I'm on the board of a company that has a mine in the United States. I've been involved in projects in other jurisdictions as well.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would say they're very comparable. The standards really don't differ for Canadian companies, whether you're operating overseas or at home. That's much more set by your company policies. Even in the total absence of standards or regulations, companies will impose on themselves the same standards they have elsewhere.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's the Hope Bay project. We got to the end of the process after three years and it got a “no”. We had to go back and restart it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's definitely a very positive step in the right direction. I think our project was the trigger that led to that change in the legislation. It became apparent to everyone--the territorial and federal governments, as well as us as proponents--that we were in a position that nobody was happy with.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sure. There's been a long-term proposal to develop an all-season road southwest from Bathurst Inlet. It would end up, coincidentally, going fairly close to the diamond mines. The end of the line would be the Izok Lake deposit, which is a very large copper/zinc deposit just west of the diamond mines.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's correct. The companies that were potentially beneficiaries of it were very strong supporters, but nobody gave a guarantee at that point, because who knew whether they would still be in production by the time the road was built.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To some extent, but one clarification I would make is that going down the provincial route is not correct. For example, British Columbia has a joint federal-provincial process that is a problem. So I wouldn't hold the provinces up as an example of what we should be aiming for. I would hold Yukon up as the example, where there is only one process; there is no federal direction of the process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'd say it's the whole process. It's the environmental, socio-economic review, and then leading into the regulatory process. Most of the permits you require, the more significant ones, are environment-related. I would come back to one of the comments Mr. Reid made. There is the sideline, which I mention in my letter, about the first nations being excluded from the benefits or projects, both on a first nations basis but also in the same way as one of the members of your panels said about the territorial participation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, that's correct, because the entire process in the Yukon is local. It was the Yukon Water Board that rejected the YESAA recommendations, specifically, the government decision document that came from the YESAA recommendations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I think the enabling legislation is long overdue and absolutely necessary, but I don't think it gets to the core of the issue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They're progress, but timelines are timelines. There is no process anywhere that has a fixed timeline. There are always opportunities for extensions in time. That's driven by regulators coming back and saying, we need more time. You can't force the issue; the company or the promoter or the project has no ability to force that timeline.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I remain skeptical. I saw the introduction of the major projects management office and it has helped a bit. But the solution to a problem is to set up more bodies to create more bureaucracy, rather than stepping back and looking at what is the underlying cause of the problem. I keep saying it, but go to the Yukon model.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the process has been established in the Yukon. I'm not saying the Yukon is perfect, but the Yukon has a workable process that is devolved to the territory, and it is much more functional and practical and reasonable and timely than that of either of the two northern territories.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That, essentially, is what happens now. Yes, the Yukon runs the entire process, and NIRB and Mackenzie Valley run the processes locally. The challenge is not that. The challenge is where decisions have to go back to Ottawa for approval at every step of the way--which type of process, moving onto the next stage, the recommendation, the decision documents.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, I think the act is long overdue, because for a long time Nunavut has been acting as though it's been in place. But I don't think it resolves the issue of what is essentially the continual loop back to Ottawa for approvals along the way. A Yukon-type system would be miles ahead of what is currently in place in Northwest Territories or Nunavut.