Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in follow-up from my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the honourable Premier. I’d like to ask the Premier, as stated with this latest injunction that effectively has put on hold the superboards, can the Premier confirm that the Gwich’in Land and Water Board will be maintained like the Wek’eezhii Board until the related court cases are decided?
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm that the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories suspended Section 253(2) of the Northwest Territories Devolution Act with regard to the MVRMA, all plans to come into force April 1, 2015. This will result in the preservation of all the regional land and water boards for now, including the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, and a delay in implementation of regional studies and cost recovery authorities.
As I mentioned, the regional boards, including the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, were scheduled for elimination as of April 1st.
I’d like to ask the Premier, how will the board’s effective operations be maintained and supported while the court case is being decided?
There will be no change in the operation of these boards and we have confirmed with AANDC that they will be assessing not only the court decision but also how to keep the current system functional. Our Department of Lands will also be doing a preliminary scan of significant projects that are currently within the MVRMA.
Can the Premier confirm which board members will be able to continue their work and how will any empty spots be addressed to ensure smooth operations? For example, with the Gwich’in, we don’t have a chair at the moment, so how will that position be filled?
My understanding is that all of the boards that have vacant appointments, they’ll fast track the appointments. The Gwich’in Land and Water Board has total members of five. They need three for a quorum. There is one current vacancy of a chair, one appointment expiring in the next year on November 8, 2015. With the fast-tracking of board appointments, we expect that it will be business as usual.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
