Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to questions by Mr. Yakeleya to the Minister of ITI, I find it pretty amazing this government hasn’t done more to protect the interests of the Sahtu people or, more importantly, that that CANOL Park, which was established under their land claim agreement, but, more importantly, protection of the Sahtu interests in the Northwest Territories, which basically we talk about IBAs, we talk about social impact agreements, we talk about benefits to the people in the Northwest Territories. These resources are going to be transferred from the Northwest Territories into the Yukon to be mined or processed in the Yukon. I’d just like to ask the Minister of ITI why is it that there are no agreements with the First Nations people in the Northwest Territories, especially the Sahtu people, in regard to this development on the impact on Sahtu lands in the Northwest Territories, yet the company is talking about transporting that ore from the Northwest Territories and processing it in the Yukon so they can avoid the environmental responsibility they have under the environmental assessment in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason there is no IBA agreements is the project hasn’t advanced to that stage yet. It’s still under development and both Mactung and Selwyn are being very careful to make sure that they stay on the Yukon side. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The main ore body that they’re talking about processing or developing is in the Northwest Territories. Basically, facilities are being developed in the Yukon so they can avoid the environmental process that they have to go through under the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act. So, again, it looks to me like the developer is trying to avoid regulatory responsibility in the Northwest Territories. So I’d like to ask the Minister again, have you checked to see why it is that this developer out of Vancouver is avoiding the regulatory responsibility it has in the Northwest Territories under federal legislation? Why is it we are allowing that to happen?
Perhaps that question is better directed to the federal government, but we, as I said, Mr. Yakeleya and myself visited the Mactung property. The development is all taken on the Yukon side. They are accessing the mine development site by using a public road that is available to anybody in the general public and, as such, until such time as they have done the feasibility work and until such time as they make application to make it into a fully functioning mine, they are working within the Yukon jurisdiction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, another one of our major resources is being taken up by a company which is now finding ways, not only shipping diamonds to Antwerp and other places in the world and we end up with nothing. Now we are finding the mine companies that deal with iron ore and heavy metals are finding ways around the Government of the Northwest Territories by simply moving the ore body out of the Northwest Territories, processing it somewhere else so we won’t get the economic and social benefit of that process. So I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Energy Mines and Resources to ensure that any mining process, regardless of how small it is, we receive the maximum benefit as Northerners for a resource that is going to leave the Northwest Territories, regardless of whether if it’s across a border 20 kilometres down the road or basically using a way to get around that responsibility of ensuring that our resources and our wealth are spent in the Northwest Territories. Again, I would like to ask the Minister, can you ensure that any developments that happen in the Northwest Territories, that we are the sole benefactors of any of those developments that take place here in the Northwest Territories regardless of whom?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When those developments happen in the Northwest Territories, we will certainly make sure that the benefits to the people of the Northwest Territories are maximized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, someone who has been involved in the Sahtu claim process knows that the ore body we are talking about has subsurface lands which are owned by the people of the Sahtu. They have ownership at the site that we are talking about around the existing ore body. So I mean it seems like this government is either snuffing us off or not taking us seriously. This is a major deposit with regard to one of the largest deposits in North America and yet we don’t seem to be interested. So I’d like to ask the Minister, can he report back to this House exactly what your department is doing to ensure that development takes place and we, as Northerners, benefit from that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mining resources are owned by the federal government or else if they are negotiated through a land claim and they have subsidiary rights, as you indicated, then they’re owned by the Sahtu government. So as I said, we are prepared to make sure that Northerners benefit from development when they happen in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
