A committee tasked with reviewing the territory’s proposed Mineral Rights Act has declared repeatedly that it won’t support the legislation if it goes ahead as is, according to letters leaked to News/North.
“The Committee remains deeply disappointed with the lack of forthcoming information, and the limited scope of the (legislative proposal),” states a Sept. 7 letter to government house leader Glen Abernethy from the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment.
Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) spokesperson Drew Williams said neither his department nor its minister, Wally Schumann, would respond to questions “regarding leaked correspondence.”
The letters detail a series of complaints on the legislative proposal, including the lack of will to re-evaluate the royalty regime set out in the NWT’s devolution agreement, as reported by News/North last week.
“The Committee questions whether ITI’s inability to develop a clear and complete (legislative proposal) stems from the fact that it may be under-resourced,” states the letter. “The Committee requests confirmation that ITI is adequately resourced to address the vagueness of the (proposal).”
According to the letters, the committee is concerned the proposed legislation’s creation of prospecting zones, with different rules, across the territory would run contrary to industry requests for a “predictable, clear and concise regulatory system.”
As well, the committee states that the legislation doesn’t address the ability of communities to prohibit staking within their boundaries.
According to the letters, the committee is worried the current legislative proposal creates a conflict of interest within ITI as the department would both be mandated to promote mining and bring in investment as well as manage mineral rights and regulate the industry.
While it seems the proposed legislation makes an effort to address this by allowing the minister to appoint a Mining Rights Commissioner for dispute resolution, the committee is still concerned that this position would both be appointed by and report to the minister.
Another concern is making this legislation modern. The committee states it is “frustrated” that the department isn’t considering including online map staking, which is in place in Ontario, B.C., Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
“ITI’s rationale that systems are expensive and still need to be proven is not substantiated with any evidence,” states the letter.
After News/North published a story last week on the mining royalty regime, referencing these letters, Vanthuyne released a statement critical of the story
“Confidential exchanges of information are a critical feature of Consensus Government that allow standing committees an opportunity to provide feedback to the government during the early drafting stages of the bill,” he stated.
He also expressed regret he wasn’t contacted for that story, then he did not respond to repeated requests for an interview for this story.
Williams reiterated that the “confidential exchange of information” is important and integral to the consensus government process, set out in the Consensus Government in the NWT – Guiding Principles and Process Conventions 18th Assembly.