Merci, Monsieur le President. I have to confess, I think there is some white hair up there somewhere, but.
On April 22, 2022, the public and Regular MLAs finally got to hear from the minister for mining and her staff about the development of mining regulations to implement the Mineral Resources Act. There were more than a few surprises, including the very short timeline for public engagement which was set for May to July of this year. Not much if anything has happened since that meeting. The public have a couple more months to weigh in on such hefty matters as how and when it might get notified of mineral staking and development, what benefits we might get and how enforceable they may be, whether we will capture more if not all the geoscience from exploration, and much more. It is right that industry has been engaged since at least January but others who have an interest should also be there.
For example, on royalties, the first item being discussed in those secret meetings with industry was transparency and confidentiality. Surely we can do better than that with GNWT engagement on the development of the mining regulations.
The minister has said that her department has done research to support the development of the mining regulations and that apparently includes a $24,000 contract to two former ITI employees on map staking finished in July 2021, a $100,000 contract to a law firm for dispute resolution expertise, and another contract for $200,000 to the University of Calgary for ongoing policy advice that began in March 2022. Advice on engagement was removed from the scope of the last contract for unknown reasons. Unfortunately, the Minister has yet to share any of this work with Regular MLAs let alone the public, despite the ever-decreasing window for input.
When committee met with the Minister, members of the Intergovernmental Council Secretariat were there but not part of the team making the presentation or answering questions. I think it would have been much more productive if they had been able to participate.
There is a commitment to publicly post at least five sets of draft mining regulations for some period of comment. But it is not clear whether there will be any response to issues or concerns raised. Of course the Minister or Cabinet is not required to carry out any public engagement for regulations but the Mineral Resources Act is only a shell and leaves all of the authority to regulations and the Executive.
I’ll have questions for the mining minister on the lessthanideal process for public and MLA engagement on the development of these important mining regulations. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
