Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my colleague’s questions to the Minister of MACA on the whole business as per my statement earlier. I’d like to start by saying that I do appreciate the department going after a renewal of this policy. It was desperately needed and I think there are a lot of lessons obviously being learned along the way and that’s what I want to do is improve this process. I’d like to start by asking the Minister if he could explain how it is possible that the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the central holders and users of these lands had not even received the consultation documents until they heard about them from somebody else and asked for them, much less being included in consultations before the public process began. How could this happen in this day and age? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This whole process was one, as the Member said, that was much needed. It was one that was actually endorsed by Members of the 16th Assembly to start to carry out the work as they felt there were a lot of squatters out there and the issue needed to be dealt with.
As far consulting, we do our best to try to consult with all affected stakeholders in this. As I responded to Ms. Bisaro, we are trying to get a product out there that they can actually see and make their assessments and comments based on the discussion paper. So it’s not a perfect scenario, but it’s one that the department has worked very hard at trying to address the issue of cabins and squatters that was brought forward and endorsed by Members of the 16th Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you for the response there, but that’s very lame, Mr. Minister. This is a First Nation we’re talking about here and the fundamental first thing we know in consultation on anything that we do involving the land is to talk immediately and thoroughly with the First Nation. So I hope the Minister will ask his staff, inform his staff on that protocol. It certainly should be routine by now.
Regarding the recommendations, MACA has admitted that the consultant plotting new lease sites did not even leave his office and walk the ground. Area leaseholders, a gold mine of knowledge and experience, were not consulted for their input, preparing informed options. The area is underlain by mineral potential and mineral leases active for 40 years, yet MACA was unaware. We’ve since found out that recreational leases are packed into shallow, and weedy and inappropriate bays. Any weekend trip to the Vee Lake landing would have revealed that parking and docking are already bursting with users.
So could the Minister comment on why recommendations were brought forward without any on-the-spot visits to proposed lakes and facilities before consultation with the people who already live on the lakes, or site examination of the facilities now in place? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I’ll try and stay away from lame answers and give the Member the answers that he wants to hear.
As far as I know, we didn’t GPS track the worker that was supposedly glued to his desk and not on site. So I’m not aware of that. I will follow up and find out how many site visits we actually have done. According to the Member we’ve done none but again, without a GPS strapped to our employee, we’re not sure if he’s gone out or not. So I will follow up on that for the Member. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate the Minister’s response. The next question I have is enforcement. Again I am astounded that a department with the responsibility of regulating land use has essentially no familiarity with the land and admits it, and they’re responsible for regulation and they admit they have no capacity and yet they propose no remedy. Or at least I have not heard one so far. At the same time, MACA is proposing to double a number of leases here and the past leases are in complete disarray in terms of any adherence to regulations. We lack the enforcement. So why is the Minister proposing new leases when we can’t enforce the regulations we have and will he go forward to address our capacity for enforcement? Mahsi.
It is our intent to grant new leases once the whole framework is done and we’re able to. We are a government for all the people in the Northwest Territories and we do have folks that are sending us communications saying that they think this is long overdue. They think this is a good idea. So we have to listen to them too.
As far as the enforcement goes, the Member is correct; we have been lacking in our ability to enforce in the least little bit. As part of the business plan process, we’re hoping to bring forward recommendations and get feedback from committee. Obviously this is one, because if we are putting a regulation in place, we need to have the capacity to enforce them. So I can assure the Member that we will work on getting that capacity so we’re able to enforce. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s response. I recognize that this, and maybe much of this, has been inherited by this Minister, but now is the time and opportunity to address these and I appreciate the Minister’s commitment.
My last question is on the greater issue of our land legacy. We’re in devolution negotiations; we’re proposing to take down the existing federal land management program with no additional resources I know of. As we know, federal enforcement is no enforcement. So we’re inheriting this huge deficit and I called on the Minister during the last Assembly to write the federal Minister, start a correspondence, ask him for priority action to begin enforcing the law. So will the Minister provide us with the correspondence he’s had to date on this with DIAND or whoever, and his perspectives on the implications of this to our devolution negotiations process? Mahsi.
Thank you. The Member is absolutely correct that when devolution does happen, it is something that we will inherit and we have to make sure that we’re best positioned to deal with all of the federal squatters on Crown lands. So we need to position ourselves to deal with that.
I will again commit to the Members that I will update them on any correspondence I have with DIAND as to our concerns with what we may be inheriting. Again, rest assured to Members that we will do our best to ensure that when we do take this over from the federal government, we will be in a position to be able to do the job and do it well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
