Merci, Monsieur le President. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daytoday activities in this House that we miss when something really special or historic happens. Yesterday a new process convention was tabled in this House on how we review resource management legislation. This represents a fundamental and seismic change in how our Legislative Assembly works when it comes to legislation codrafted pursuant to the devolution agreement of 2014 and the Intergovernmental Council Legislative Development Protocol. I predict that this new collaborative approach will eventually be extended to other areas of shared jurisdiction and interest between Northwest Territories Indigenous governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories such as education and social services.
This new arrangement between Regular MLAs and Cabinet stems from lessons learned during the codevelopment and review of resource management legislation in the last Assembly. Standing committee would hear concerns and issues from the public and Indigenous governments, sometimes resulting in amendments. Indigenous governments were surprised when amendments were proposed and made to some of those laws without their input. This process convention will extend the review period for new resource management legislation and provides for increased sharing of information between standing committee and the Intergovernmental Council during the review of a bill. Indigenous governments will also be able to attend meetings on bills and appear on the floor of this House. I am not aware of any other jurisdiction in Canada that has this type of arrangement, and I believe it sets a useful and needed precedent. We will test drive this new process with Bill 74, Forest Act.
While this new historic arrangement builds on what we learned in the last Assembly with resource management legislation, there is still more work to be done. We need to find better ways to share information and engage those Indigenous governments that are not part of the Intergovernmental Council. There are still problems with the consistency, timing, and amount of information shared with standing committee by Cabinet on the codrafting of resource management legislation.
Lastly, I continue to be profoundly disappointed with the failure of Cabinet to apply its own Open Government policy in the development of new resource management legislation and regulations. GNWT needs to step up and ensure there is a parallel process for the public in the development of this new legislation and a clear role for the public in decisionmaking. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Merci, Monsieur le President. GNWT needs to step up and ensure there is a parallel process for the public in the development of this new resource management legislation and a clear role for the public in decisionmaking. This is what our residents have come to expect from responsible resource development and comanagement itself.
I would be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I did not acknowledge and thank our Clerk and the staff of the Intergovernmental Council for their hard work in helping us reach this new process convention. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
