Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think the heard the word "months." Okay, that's helpful to understand. I just want to turn to 10-6 under the current bill that is before us. It says: "The Minister may, in the Minister's discretion, reject a nomination made under this section." Can someone explain to me what sort of circumstances might lead to the Minister rejecting a nomination? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just so I understand this completely, is the Minister of the opinion or the view that any specific regulations are required to bring this act into force? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay. Can I get some understanding of how the nomination process worked under the old Protected Areas Strategy? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. What I want to do is just read a sentence from a letter received from the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated. This is a letter dated May 3, 2019:

"Therefore, the SSI maintains that the Sahtu Dene and Metis must have a substantial role in the development of regulations under the bills in a manner consistent with the operation of the working group with respect to the development of the bills. It is not enough for the GNWT to simply consult with the SSI about the draft regulations."

This is the part I really want everybody to pay attention to:

"To that end, the SSI and other...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think it's fair to say that all of committee agreed with this recommendation. We all have maybe some different ways we want to go at this. We are going to deal with that when we get to the clause-by-clause review of the bill, but we heard very strong evidence from the Indigenous governments themselves that they want to have a clear role moving forward in development of regulations, similar to the process that was used in actually developing the bill itself. I support the recommendation. I support co-management. This is coming directly from the Indigenous governments...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I recognize that the clock is ticking. I do feel compelled to respond to some of the things that I heard.

I think that I heard the honourable Member for Nunakput say that this amendment is an example of people trying to lock up areas. I want to assure everyone in this Assembly that that is not why I am here. I have lived here for 35 years, almost. I worked for Indigenous governments when I first arrived. I have never said that I speak on behalf of Indigenous governments. I am here to make sure that our government honours the agreements and Indigenous rights as they have...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I respect my colleague as chair, of course. I guess what this motion is trying to do is suggest or ensure that there is some coordination of reporting around state of the environment that is already taking place under part 6 of the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act, and that is generally facilitated by the Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program staff who actually work within ENR these days. There are going to be reporting requirements, as I just outlined in speaking to the last recommendation, under this bill every five years. There is also to be some annual reporting...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have another amendment I would like to propose. I move that subclause 10(6) of bill 38 be deleted and the following substituted: "(6) The Minister shall make a decision to accept or reject the nomination within 90 days of receiving the nomination," and the Minister shall provide written reasons or a rejection to any nominating Indigenous governments or organizations.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I can live without the recommendation as it reads, but I think the real issue here is trying to prevent a conflict from happening in the first place. I think it is fair to say that everybody recognizes that the paramountcy of the land rights agreements, and that is recognized in this legislation, as well, but the trick is in ensuring that the resource management, the environmental legislation, that that's brought forward, really incorporates and recognizes the co-management regime that has evolved here in the Northwest Territories. I think that the real issue here is not so...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think, through the questions that I had of the Minister and his staff, I was trying to get to a point where we would better understand how this nomination process is really supposed to work.

I don't want to relive what was written in the dissenting opinion that we read into the House yesterday, but as I understood, the nomination process is supposed to happen quickly and is basically like a checklist. If the supplied information is provided, it should be just a straight conformity check that, once the supplied information is put together, a decision is made on forwarding...