Bob McLeod

This MOU will formalize our government-to-government relationship and provide an opportunity for the Government of the Northwest Territories and Deline Got'ine Government leadership to meet and discuss issues of mutual concern and interests. We have found that this is an excellent forum to do so. There is, however, ongoing work with Deline Got'ine that is occurring.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories and Deline Got'ine Government officials have been working closely and are currently finalizing a draft MOU. Officials will be meeting this month to conclude that draft agreement with the Deline Got'ine Government, and we will forward it to the leaders for review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Right now, only Canada can provide policy direction to the boards, but I can say that the Minister responsible for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has agreed to start discussions for the devolution of the MVRMA processes. As you may recall, there was a five-year provision to wait to begin the review, and he has indicated he is prepared to start that review right away. Independent regional land and water boards are responsible to administer processes for both type A and type B water licence applications. Maximum timelines for water licence processes already exist under...

We are not currently considering revising the requirement for a type B water licence for the use of over 100 cubic metres of water per day. It is my understanding that this volume is consistent with other northern jurisdictions. In the Yukon, the 300 cubic metres is a threshold specifically related to type B licences for placer and quartz mining. All other mining has a threshold of 100 cubic metres for a type B water licence. In Nunavut, anything between 50 and 300 cubic metres requires a type B licence.

The Government of the Northwest Territories, Canada, and Deline Got'ine Government are working closely together to continue the implementation of the Deline Got'ine agreement. We will be establishing a bilateral housing working group to collaboratively address housing issues in the community. All three governments are also working to renew the Deline Got'ine Government financing agreement.

In 2015, Deline developed and implemented a thoughtful and comprehensive caribou management plan for the Bluenose-East herd, to guide their community and residents based on their agreement. ENR and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize three Pages from Yellowknife South, Tyson Lafond, Janica-Lei Silverio, and Ryley Steinwand. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has held engagements for the development of the Northwest Territories-specific chapter in January of 2018 and has been working with Northwest Territories Indigenous governments through the intergovernmental council. In February of 2019 we shared a draft Northwest Territories chapter with Indigenous governments and the territory. At the same time, we are working on a pan-territorial [chapeau] with the governments of Yukon and Nunavut and will share that document with standing committee once a consensus between the territorial governments is reached...

I have received comments from the standing committee, both during a briefing on February 28th or 26th and in written correspondence from the committee. I have also received input from stakeholders since the briefing. Further comments are expected this week from Indigenous governments and also francophone organizations, which receive the translated document later than other stakeholders, primarily due to translation. The comments will be incorporated into the document over the next week and shared with Indigenous governments, standing committee, and stakeholders.

I don't believe there is imbalance, but, as I said, we will see what Indigenous governments and stakeholders have to say. Committee has provided positive feedback in this regard, and this is currently being considered, and we will take feedback and develop another draft and share that draft with Indigenous governments, standing committee, and stakeholders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for giving me advance notice of his line of questioning. In this case, the federal government has not provided any updates on the validation document or the timelines for the release of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework as a whole. We have asked for clarification, but have heard only that the final document will likely be ready in May of 2019.