Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think everybody has a dream of owning their own home and building a home, but a house needs a critical aspect of making a long-term home, and that is land. My question is to the Minister of Lands. What steps has the Minister of Lands taken to identify and make land available for residents of the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department does encourage community governments to apply for and obtain land within the communities where there is a demonstrated need to support future expansion and development of their communities.
Now, much of this land is unsurveyed, so, once we recognize a need for the land, we would have to in many cases have it surveyed. There is a way in which community governments in particular can apply to the government and obtain land within the community.
Once again, having a home of course is the biggest investment that a person will undertake in their lives. At the same time, it is also an investment in the community, but, in some communities, there is no land.
Can the Minister commit to working closely with communities to open up larger areas of land for development, in an effort to step away from piecemeal development and towards a more holistic approach?
As I mentioned, we do encourage community governments to apply for and gain title to lands, and often the proven needs or the needs of the community are identified through community plans. Communities need to develop community plans, and then applications can be made, of course, to Lands. That would be the process to obtain more land within the communities that would be available to the general population.
I know that, under section 9 of the Commissioner's Land Regulations, "No interest in Commissioner's land shall be sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of unless the deputy Minister is satisfied that the applicant for the land has discharged the obligations and performed the covenants and agreements that are required of him or her before the sale, lease, or other disposal; the land is no larger in area than is reasonable for the purpose for which the land is required; and the sale or lease is fair and equitable in accordance with the public interest."
There is no general policy to turn over all Commissioner's land within the communities to the communities, but certainly we would be interested in working with the communities and in receiving applications.
The Minister stated two interesting streams of a process that communities would undertake: one, for the purposes of residential interest, people could apply for land; and, also, the other process is a commercial interest in communities. What is the difference between the two processes, and are they basically the same?
As mentioned earlier, the proven need for land must be established, first of all. As to whether the process is different for commercial, industrial, or residential land, I will have to look into that and get back to the Member.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to working with MACA to review community plans and zoning bylaws together to ensure smoother land transfer to communities by eliminating additional process layers? Mahsi.
Yes, of course, we would be very pleased to work with MACA to make this process move more smoothly, and, certainly, we do recognize that there is a need for land in the communities. I have heard that, not only from the Member who has asked the question but from another Member opposite. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
