Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The three northern Premiers worked together as part of the Northern Premiers Forum to develop this panterritorial vision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member knows, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs Canada appointed a Ministerial Special Representative to consult across northern Canada about the Arctic Policy Framework. Mary Simon was the MSR, and the three Northern Premiers felt that her report was too focused on conservation. I think it would be hard for us to find the words "sustainable development" any place in that report, and we felt that we needed to have some balance. The three Premiers of the three northern territories developed the PanTerritorial Vision for Sustainable Development that we submitted, and submitted it to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the Arctic Policy Framework is a federal policy. There are no guarantees, because it will be developed by the federal government. Having said that, the federal government has seen fit, in their definition of "Arctic," to include not only Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories, but have also included Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba, and, of course, Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Metis National Council. As I said, this is the federal government.

Nonetheless, we are working very hard to include all sectors, all...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table to following letter from Gary Vivian, President of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, to myself, Premier McLeod, dated February 12, 2018, commending the Government of the Northwest Territories for sending a strong signal that the Northwest Territories is serious about its minerals industry, through its presence at roundup 2018, along with representatives of NWT Indigenous governments that are emerging and that are engaging in their own work to attract mineral investments and jobs to their regions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We had a very good discussion at InterGovernmental Council, where all the Aboriginal governments that participated and signed in to devolution were very supportive of working together and developing the Arctic Policy Framework. We have committed to holding round tables throughout the North with all of the different stakeholders. Certainly, we will be pleased to share drafts of the documents as we go forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said earlier in response to the Member for Yellowknife North's question, the three northern Premiers were very concerned about the report of the Ministerial Special Representative of the Minister of Indigenous Affairs Canada. She was commissioned to consult with stakeholders and governments through the Arctic, and the terms of reference focused primarily on conservation.

When she met with the Premiers, we felt that the request for increased sustainable development was not reflected in the report. We felt that significant work had been done in developing conservation and protected areas. We...

We support balance, sustainable development, and we believe that with the PanTerritorial Vision for Sustainable Development, at least in the Northwest Territories chapter, we will have some balance between conservation and development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As part of the overall framework, our government has the opportunity to develop a chapter. We have begun that process with a series of round tables with Indigenous governments, industry, and non-government organizations to identify key issues to include in the NWT chapter. I should point out that Indigenous governments certainly have other opportunities. The Inuit can have input into the ITK chapter. They have alliances with Nunavut, so they could have input in the Nunavut chapter. The federal government is holding parallel round tables throughout the North with the same people. They will be...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Glen Abernethy will be late arriving in the House today due to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will try to live within the limits of the 10 minutes. I guess, first and foremost on land and resources, with regards to questions with land-use planning, those responsibilities remain with the federal government. They were not devolved. We certainly agree with the Member that land-use planning funding should be provided for. We are certainly fully supporting that. We see land-use planning as the way of the future.

The South Slave is becoming very complicated because there is a number of land-claims negotiations. You have the Akaitcho. You have the NWT Metis Nation. You...