Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I just want to say that I absolutely do appreciate and respect the boundary agreement between the City of Yellowknife and the YKDFN. I think that that is a positive move and would be beneficial to the residents of Yellowknife, Detah, and Ndilo.
With that said, I do have a few questions for the Minister. I want to be able to best inform my constituents, so I want to start by asking the Minister: what is the process if a band council or a city council wants to change their boundary? What is the process for a community to request a change to their municipal boundary, and what is our government's role in that process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to let the Member know that we did have a meeting with the City of Yellowknife and the chiefs from the YK Dene. I won't say that the process is pretty simple, but all of our communities across the Northwest Territories do have to submit a Community Land Use Plan. In this case, I am honestly glad to see that the City of Yellowknife and the YK Dene are working together to address some of these boundary issues here in the region. However, communities have to submit a Community Land Use Plan, and before it does get signed off through myself or the ministerial approval, the department does review the plan. It normally goes through the community planning division to ensure that Community Land Use Plans meet the requirements of the Community Planning and Development Act.
Now, on top of that, there is section 35 under the Constitution Act. That does require that consultation with Indigenous groups happen, and we want to make sure that any Indigenous groups that are in the area are consulted with when these plans are looked at and approved. That is the process.
As I did mention to the Member, we did meet with the City of Yellowknife and the chiefs and their staff earlier this summer in June, and we have started that process, but that is the process moving forward for any of the Members who want to look at their Community Land Use Plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply, and I am happy to hear that the department is working with the respective governments. The Minister mentioned that there is a review process, so maybe he can expand a little bit more on what that is, what does that really entail. Does the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs undertake some kind of assessment on maybe what impacts such a boundary change may have? For example, in my case, the boundary is going to leave houseboaters who were once upon a time inside the municipal boundary now on the outside of the municipal boundary. What does it mean for residents such as them?
As I mentioned, all communities submit a community land use plan, and we appreciate the work that they do in terms of consulting with their residents and taxpayers. I also mentioned under section 35 that they also have to consult with Indigenous groups in the communities before it is approved. We feel that our staff and the staff of the municipalities and the communities do their due diligence to make sure that everyone is consulted with when these discussions, and more importantly, decisions are made.
Thank you to the Minister for the reply. I appreciate that there are some levels of consultation that will take place, and as it relates to section 35, and that's important, but notwithstanding section 35, will the department be engaging in a public consultation process to inform residents of such a change? Is that part of the Government of the Northwest Territories' responsibility? Is that part of this review? Will the residents that could be affected by this have the opportunity to be informed and provide input?
As I mentioned, there are a couple of acts that we have to follow, and that is the Planning and Development Act, Community Planning and Development Act, as well as the Constitution Act with section 35. Some of this responsibility also has to fall on the municipality, whoever puts in their community land use plan. In this case, I know the Member is mentioning the City of Yellowknife as well as the Yellowknives Dene and the Metis all play a part in this, and I think the consultation needs to be put on the responsibility of all those involved. As a government, we follow those two acts to ensure that we are following our due diligence and making sure that those that need to be consulted, and the partners that we're working with, do the work that they need to do, as well.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Some time ago, the City of Yellowknife through one of their respective committees started a harbour planning committee, and there were a number of recommendations in there with regard to a number of aspects around the waterfronts of Yellowknife. One of them was about starting a harbour commission. Now that lands and water has been devolved down to the territorial government, is there any interest from the territorial government?
I will put it to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, since this would certainly affect their department, in working with the city and other key stakeholders in starting a harbour commission so that we can start to better understand what uses can be made in the waterfronts around Yellowknife; Back Bay, Yellowknife Bay. Is there any interest in the government in starting a harbour commission with the respective stakeholders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can't make that commitment at this time; however, I can let the Member know and interested stakeholders know that we have had these discussions with the City of Yellowknife and their officials, as well as the Chiefs of Detah and N'Dilo, and let the Member know that these are discussions that we are going to continue to have. In terms of the community land use plans under section 35, that is something that we need to get out there to make sure that everybody is on board should the boundaries change for this region or any other communities throughout the Northwest Territories. I want to assure the Member that we have had these discussions already, and I think it is going to be something that is going to be in the 19th Assembly, and I think further discussions are going to happen. I thank the Member for his concerns and his questions. Mahsi.
