Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It is unsettled land, so the options available to the Kaska if they feel that they have not been consulted in accordance with the law would be to seek redress in the courts. It's the same situation right now. There is nothing in the Yukon Surface Rights Board Act that has any bea

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's that, and the discussions they have with the government, but if they are of the view that the duty to consult that the government may have in an oil and gas disposition has not been met, this is the way for them to raise that concern. That is the way it's been raised acros

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's fair to observe that over the years there have at times been gaps in appointments, yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  With regard to the Surface Rights Board, I would say no, primarily due to their relatively low level of activity. With regard to other boards, when we've experienced this before, the issue has been addressed in large part, I would say, simply by devolution, since now it is the Y

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I believe so. The requirement is that the auditor, of course, will be required to operate under the generally accepted principles of accounting, as does the Auditor General, and that the report be made available to the board and to the minister. The practice of the board has been

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would have to check the provision. I thought they were appointed by the minister on the nomination of the....

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have not heard any significant concern about that method of appointment.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the answer to that question is no. The consent provisions in the Oil and Gas Act that are under discussion right now in the Yukon Legislative Assembly are related to consent of a first nation before an oil and gas disposition is made in their traditional territories, whi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Each first nation has a number of site-specific selections. Some of those may be category A parcels or category B parcels. It also has some site-specific parcels, which are generally very small. They may relate to a trapper's cabin or a homestead cabin that has been used, but the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Are you speaking specifically to land held by the first nation, or more generally?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Under chapter 18 of the Yukon First Nation Final Agreements, there are a number of provisions that speak in particular to mining rights. They vary, depending upon whether or not the mining right was obtained prior to entry into the final agreement, meaning before the land became

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'd be somewhat hard pressed, I think, to compare it to other jurisdictions in the country. That said, I think that within Yukon it's a model that provides for many opportunities for resolution of disputes. There is a provision in the final agreement that sets things out. The p

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The issue of the Yukon Surface Rights Board amendments in Bill C-47 is totally unrelated to what the Yukon government has advanced in its bill with respect to amendments to the Oil and Gas Act. The Yukon government has indicated that it has undertaken and will, in all respects, c

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that's an issue the government is considering. The status of the MOA is one that first nations have taken a position on, but it certainly is not related to these amendments at all.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sure, I'd be happy to do that for you. Across the Yukon there are a number of traditional territories identified that relate to each of the first nations, and some of these traditional territories overlap. For those first nations that have entered into land claim agreements with