In a stunning departure from good governance, NWT Industry Minister Caroline Wawzonek said that recent talks around mining regulations were limited to representatives from the mining sector since it was the only stakeholder.
Public concerns and input are not welcome in these private meetings. The discussions are not being made public and other special interest groups, such as those concerned about the environment, are not welcomed.
In any other provinces or territories where they try to practise accountable governance, the minister would have come under intense criticism from opposition parties and the civil servants participating in these meetings would have had their roles reviewed. We have to ask ourselves if we should be doing the same.
We have learned a great deal in the last couple weeks since these private meetings between the GNWT and mining sector were revealed (you can read more on Kevin O’Reilly’s MLA Facebook page). This includes the urgent need for some elected personnel and senior bureaucrats to revisit their poly sci 101 studies. Anyone in the political arena must have taken that course or an equivalent and therefore able to see the threat these meetings pose to the very fabric of our democracy.
From these meetings, where the main purpose is placating the mining industry and relaxing environmental guidelines during this time of climate change continued catastrophe, we learned that the mines call too many of the shots and enjoy privileges that other groups don’t. Politicians and civil servants in the NWT are too often the puppets; the mining industry, the puppeteer.
This leads to the assumption that we didn’t vote for politicians in the last election. We voted for people too willing to dance to the industry’s tune.
If we thought the Taltson hydroelectricity expansion was to help people in the communities we were dead wrong… it’s to provide cheap, if not free, energy to the mines.
What we are witnessing in the NWT is what we have seen in Third World countries where mining companies, including some from Canada and Australia, have exploited Indigenous land-holders to further their interests and the cost of that was high.
Yes, the public and other key stakeholders can have input online in the draft NWT Mining Regulations until the middle of the month, but they will not enjoy the private face-to-face meetings the mines enjoyed.
This is another lesson we are learning from these secret meetings: consensus government, is not only not working; it’s downright dangerous. Its lack of scrutiny, oversight and accountability threaten the stability of the territory. The stakes for all stakeholders in the NWT, which includes anyone who lives here, are high. The issues — ranging from the climate crisis to Arctic sovereignty — are huge and the NWT could very well be in the fight of its life. We need a politically mature government to guide us safely through the next chapter in this perilous journey. We don’t have that now.
Clandestine meetings with exploitative stakeholders will not suffice. We deserve a transparent government that is accountable to we, the people… not the mines.
We are the stakeholders. Our lives are at stake.