Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would say that the litigation and the controversy associated with the litigation was certainly a variable in questioning the confidence in the environmental assessment system. That the environmental assessment system was somehow flawed and needed to be corrected was something t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have been in this business for over 20 years, and I've seen the creation of a new diamond industry in Canada and regulatory systems being tested by multinational corporations that have come to invest in Canada, in the north in particular. Their level of sophistication in how th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The territorial government, depending on which ministry is directly implicated with the project, whether it's a land ministry, a mining ministry, or environmental.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are repealing section 49(1), so I think that would hopefully alleviate the concern to a degree.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We've done so on a case-by-case basis across the north, and my Yukon information is a bit limited right now.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The issue of participant funding, which is the one that I think you're alluding to, remains an outstanding issue that we're being encouraged to look into.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would say that's an accurate portrayal. I'd say that first and foremost is who is making the decision. I think that Yukoners have worked really hard with Canada and all first nations to ensure that there was a process in place whereby they would never be left out of the decisio

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, I have to accept it on face value. On face value, we have received letters of support for these changes from the organizations you referenced. The fact that they have also talked about the system continuing reinforces the point that the original four amendments that were th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You are sort of taking us out of Yukon and trying to figure out whether there is a national standard.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Certainly, through budget 2012, there was an interest in establishing predictability and timelines with the environmental assessment processes. I am not the lead official who would be best suited to give you the details on that. Our colleagues at the Canadian Environmental Assess

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As we mentioned in the presentation, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the parties that started the litigation, and that memorandum of understanding was pretty important to rekindling the relationship and to demonstrating that the Government of Canada was committed to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What I would say is that modern treaties can be changed. They certainly can be changed; they just can't be changed unilaterally by any of the parties. It goes into a partnership approach. Therefore, in order to change it, you need to have the same partners agree that those change

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I will try to do this briefly, but it is a long process. The key principle is transparency, and so the project proponent is under an obligation to engage communities early in that process in terms of their intent. Typically, the environmental assessment process begins well in a