Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement today and ask questions directed to the Premier. The federal government is the resource manager and the co-signatory of the land claim agreements. Two Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada environmental audits say under-resourcing of the boards is a barrier to speedy and thorough completion of reviews.
Does the Premier agree that it is, at least currently, the responsibility of the federal government to adequately resource the boards to carry out this work?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member recognizes that we are the responsible government. We are all elected to represent the people of the Northwest Territories, and we’re doing that to the best of our ability. We’re not the official opposition to the Government of Canada or we’re not going to be out picketing about cuts to different areas. We are doing our job. We are writing letters to the Government of Canada, asking them questions about the activities that the government undertakes. Right now the Government of Canada is responsible for the funding of the MVRMA boards.
Of course, the reason I’m asking these questions – I appreciate the Premier’s response there – is that the public is not hearing about this. It’s the people, our people who are being affected by these decisions which are only affecting the Northwest Territories. We’re talking about boards within the Northwest Territories. I think we very much have a role here. We have the prospect of seven new mines, the fibre optic link, the Mackenzie Valley Highway extension, and possibly hydro development in the offing.
The government has complained past reviews were too slow. We haven’t hesitated to speak out there. We know a big problem has actually been delayed decisions by the federal Minister, but does the Premier agree that cutting the Environmental Review Board staff in half, from 12 to six, will cripple the board’s ability to complete reviews promptly and thoroughly and has the potential to delay projects that this government wants to see proceed speedily and responsibly?
The administration of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board indicated that through job shadowing and the fact that there was a decrease in the amount of work that they will be doing next year to last, that they felt that it was within their level of resources to be able to handle the workload. Obviously, reduction in resources at this time is probably not very helpful as we go forward.
The Premier and I are on the same page with his last statement there. The previous bit, though, is only partially correct. The board said they had shadow people for this project that’s coming up but not for the rest of the work. There’s also the federal duty to consult and accommodate to meet federal fiduciary in Section 35 responsibilities. These may be federal but they are the constitutional rights held by more than half of our NWT citizens. When the federal government reneges on them, I believe we have a duty to lend support to NWT citizens under assault.
Was this government even informed in advance of the planned funding cuts, and is the Premier aware of consultation with our Aboriginal partners?
If we feel that fiduciary obligations are not being followed, we are not worried, we don’t take our time in asking questions about it. As far as if we were asked about specific reduction of six people from the MVEIRB office, we were not consulted about it.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Glad to hear it. On the second part there, I was asking about the planned funding cuts rather than the people that were the decision of the board that they were finessed into. We partner governments and boards rely heavily on the Environmental Review Board for essential information and advice, and the federal government is kicking the legs out from under it. The Commissioner of the Environment said the same thing even before these cuts.
My question is, as I asked in my statement: How long will devolution negotiations muzzle our voice and our willingness to stick up for the vital public interests that are under assault here? When will this government finally speak up? Thank you.
Sometimes it’s good to have the last word, but we are not being muzzled. We are negotiating with the Government of Canada. As we’ve said all along, we hope that everybody will support devolution, because if you want to protect resources that are in the current system, the best way to do it is by having devolution occur and have devolution occur in a very timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
