Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, my questions will be for the Minister of Lands. I'm very grateful to hear that they make a commitment that he follow through on it, and I wish the other Ministers would follow the lead and follow the Lands Minister and any verbal commitments will follow through. Well, can the Minister please explain why the department still uses the Commissioner’s lands application process in areas where the unsettled land claim area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
The Commissioner's land application process applies on all Commissioner's land regardless of whether it's an area of settled or unsettled land claims. Thank you.
I thank the Minister for his answer. What are the government's rules for the sale of Commissioner's lands in regions without the settled land claim areas?
Mr. Speaker, fee simple title is not normally granted in unsettled regions due to the land lease only policy of the Government of the Northwest Territories.
I didn't understand that, but I have another question I need to forward on. We know that at least there are 43 exemptions in Cassidy Point, which is Commissioner's land, and that there's other out there that I'm aware of. That as I continue to bring this issue forward from my constituents there is exceptions to this rule. So can the Minister please advise this House what the process is for making exemptions to the rules?
Mr. Speaker, department officials review such requests and based on the merits and rationale the request can be forwarded to the Executive Council for review. Executive Council determines whether an exception to the land lease only policy is granted. Requests for a fee simple title are reviewed through the department's broader policy framework. In the future, our review will also be informed by the soon to be completed Recreational Land Management Framework and its policies and guidelines.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you to the Minister for his answer. I'm not sure that really solves the issue of unsettled unclaimed areas, so can the Minister please explain how these exemptions were made and applied besides the Executive Council? It seems the Executive Council is making these decisions that have an impact on the residents of the Northwest Territories in unsettled land claim areas. So again, can the Minister explain how these exemptions were made and apply that method to other cases in unsettled land claim areas across the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, each request for fee simple is unique and reviewed individually. In the case of Cassidy Point which was referenced earlier, we made an exception to honour a long-standing commitment to lease holders. As I mentioned, our review of exceptional situations will also be informed by the soon to be completed Recreational Land Management Framework.
One of the difficulties with dealing with matters on a case-by-case basis is that you can conceivably set precedence. There's a saying that hard cases make bad law, and I think what we want to do is make the process simple, transparent in the future, so that everybody can understand the system and be treated equally.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
