Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that clause 22 of Bill 34 be amended by adding the following after subclause (7.2):

(7.3) The Minister shall, upon request of a municipality, consider designating an area as a restricted area within which interests in minerals may not be issued for a period of up to one year, if

(a) the Minister considers that the designation is required urgently and for a temporary period;

(b) the area is located within the boundaries of the municipality;

(c) the area contains sufficient municipal infrastructure or public utilities which could be negatively impacted by mineral...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I can support this motion. I raised this issue when the Tlicho Government appeared before committee. Their land rights agreement actually contains provisions for the beginning, at least, of negotiations on a major mining project that is over $50 million in value, and there is a list of benefits, not unlike other ones that we've heard about here tonight, that a company has to at least initiate discussions with the Tlicho Government around. I said, "If the Tlicho Government actually reached an agreement under the Land Rights Agreement, do you think that would satisfy the...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So, yes, committee did hear concerns around the impacts of mineral exploration and development within municipal boundaries and where this has led to some issues of land use conflicts, particularly in Inuvik. I am certainly well aware of a number of prominent cases that have been in the media around land use conflicts in Dawson around Placer Mining. Although committee tried to work with the Minister on this to try to find ways to provide notice and opportunities for temporary restrictions linked to municipal interests and purpose within communities boundaries and so on, we...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. What I heard from the earlier discussion was that, in fact, in some cases the actual royalties paid to our government are disclosed under federal legislation. There are problems with consistency, reporting entities, and so on. Some of this information may, indeed, already be disclosed. This is not a debate about what the benefits are from the mining industry; this is a debate about why a calculation of a figure of an amount paid to our government under mining legislation, you know, I guess the intent of this is to require that it be disclosed on a per-mine basis. I don't...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. My job is to actually get into the weeds. That is why I am here. I tried to correct the Minister on this; I'm not disrespecting Indigenous governments. This does not take away from Indigenous governments by any stretch of the imagination. Those rights are already protected in other provisions in the bill. This is about affording the public an opportunity to comment on the establishment of regulations that would establish zones. The Minister doesn't even have to listen to whatever the public says. I could say something about how that has played out in the context of this...

I guess I just anticipate too much, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This would extend the ability to receive written reasons to municipal governments on if the Minister declines to accept a restricted area. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The intent of this motion is to provide the kind of clarity that the Minister has not been able to do in debate so far. What this does is actually codify the intentions that the Minister has already spoken about, of providing benefits for people of the Northwest Territories. Those benefits can take many forms. It could be a benefit agreement. It could be prescribed by regulations. It is all at the discretion of the Minister, but what this does is establish a clear trigger of a production licence. There is an end point here. This is when the benefits would kick in.

Furthermore...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. As many Members know, I am a committee meeting junkie. I go to all of the different committee meetings that I can, so I had the privilege of attending many of the social envelope reviews of bills, participated in the SCEDE reviews of environmental resources legislation, as well, or bills. I think it would be fair to say that my impression, my takeaway, was that, on the social envelope side, it was often easier to work with Ministers and departments in making progress on improving bills, and I think it was a very difficult process on the resource and environmental side with...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Look, I don't want to debate the benefits that the mining industry provides to the Northwest Territories. I've acknowledged them openly in this House. They pay property taxes, they pay taxes, their employees pay taxes. That's all great, but what is the problem with disclosing to the public the amount of royalties paid? That's just a calculation. This is not the entire picture, but I'm trying to understand what the rationale is to prevent disclosure of the royalties that are paid. I just haven't heard a good reason why that amount can't be disclosed.

The other benefits, that's...