Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our job here is to be legislators and to debate policy, and I am consistently frustrated that I find myself getting into the implementation and the operations of our departments. Earlier today, I heard the Minister of Lands commit that the land within municipal boundaries, there is a working group in place; hopefully, within a year, we have a process document; and then after that, we may see the land transferred. Unfortunately, I have to ask questions of every Minister to ensure that this is happening, so my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs: is the Minister willing to enter into an MOU with the Department of Lands, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, the City of Yellowknife, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and the heart of that MOU is that the land within municipal boundaries will be transferred? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. This situation with a land transfer happening within a municipal boundary is a quite complex situation in that there are a lot of parties at the table that we would have to work with, going forward, and consult with. Right now, the department is not in favour of entering into an MOU, to be honest. There is a lot of consideration to be thought through, looking at the land transfer and the affected parties and what is going to be coming along with that transfer, and looking at that transfer and what is going to be available to the City of Yellowknife, to the YKDFN, and the affected parties that are there. Looking for a thorough assessment, I'd have to be working closely with my colleague for the Department of Lands, the Minister of Lands, and working with the City of Yellowknife and YKDFN. Those relationships have already been established, so going forward, we are speaking about this process. I'd really like to stress that the transfer is quite complex. It's not something that can easily be completed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I am well aware that there are complexities in the implementation of any policy, but there is clear policy direction from the legislative branch that this be done. It is as simple as the Minister providing a ministerial directive to their department to devolve the lands, and then the department figures out the logistics. In the meantime, we have the City of Yellowknife's plan being required to be approved by the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and any revisions, a process that is taking too long. Will the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs commit to removing the requirement of her approval while this process is ongoing?
My apologies to my colleague. I'm not in favour of removing our abilities, of myself as Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, that this is happening within the municipal boundary. We do have a lot of consultations to be completed within the timeframe. We also have to consider that the transfer that is happening, that all parties at the table are, I don't want to use the words "in agreement," but I really want to stress the word "consultation." We do have ongoing land claims that have not been settled within this area, as well. I would really like to be mindful that this is a very delicate process and that it does involve legalities. Looking at this process, we are working closely with the stakeholders and closely with my colleague, the Minister of Lands. I would just like to really stress that it is a very complicated situation, and it's not as easy as it could be done signing papers and the transfer is complete. We do have to really concentrate on a lot of the scenarios that do come with them. I don't want to identify them, because it is a very complex situation.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
