With the introduction of Bill C-88 in the House of Commons on Nov. 8, the creation of a land, water and resource management superboard in the NWT has essentially ground to a halt.
In 2014, the Harper government planned to collapse existing regional land and water boards and transfer regulatory authority to a single agency. Those changes included rights to grant permits on traditional Indigenous lands. Not surprisingly, the idea of merging NWT regulatory boards met strong resistance from Indigenous governments, including the Tlicho, which was granted an injunction.
In tabling Bill C-88 earlier this month, Dominic LeBlanc, Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs minister, said the amendments "would help maintain the efficient, predictable and coherent management and use of land, water and natural resources in the North."
And so it should. Control belongs in the hands of the people who live here and use the lands of the territory. Indigenous groups should be empowered to oversee their respective regions.
Federal regulatory boards have always been a dumping ground for patronage, where people get big bucks for little to no work. Oversight might as well be in hands of Indigenous governments. It certainly give them more credibility, while encouraging the Dehcho and Akaitcho to complete their land-claim agreements.
The GNWT's role should be to facilitate those land claim negotiations to foster successful completion, not put up roadblocks that will add years to the process.
NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines executive director Tom Hoefer said in an interview with News/North that the issue at the forefront for the chamber is cost-recovery – what industries pay to the territorial government for doing business on GNWT lands. Hoefer urged the GNWT to refrain from creating regulations on cost recovery in an environment that already has high costs related to exploration and extraction.
There is a lot at stake. As the chamber of mines stated in regards to the Harper government's Bill C-15 during devolution in 2014, “Exploration and mining continue to the present day to provide extensive employment, training and business opportunities for Northern residents, and confer significant additional economic benefits beyond the NWT on the other two territories and the provinces.”
It is up to our political leaders to ensure that the infrastructure, education and appropriate regulations are in place to ensure there's fairness and a regulatory process that works for everybody involved.
Industry must shoulder its responsibility, of course – paying its dues, keeping environmental liabilities to a minimum and providing a maximum number of jobs to territorial residents. All of this will help lead us toward “a path forward for the strategic management of Arctic offshore oil and gas resources in collaboration with partners," as LeBlanc stated in Parliament.