Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories holds significant authority over lands within community and municipal boundaries;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories could support the economic development of communities by enabling community control of community land via block land transfer;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories initiated a block land transfer with the City of Yellowknife in 2021, as a pilot project to guide the rest of the Northwest Territories community land transfers, and this block land transfer remains outstanding;
AND WHEREAS the delay of block land transfer to communities is delaying the development of communities and the implementation of urgent housing solutions desperately needed across the Northwest Territories.
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by Member for Frame Lake, that the Government of the Northwest Territories complete the block transfer of land to communities within municipal and community boundaries without delay;
AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories remove requirements from communities that are impeding this transfer, such as the requirement for surveying, community zoning and bylaw development for land that is under Government of the Northwest Territories authority.
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories remove internal impediments that are delaying the efficient transfer of lands within municipal and community boundaries;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide public updates on the status of block land transfer to communities;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, land is so crucial to the Northwest Territories. Land is life for the First Peoples who have called the NWT home since time immemorial. And for a modern economy or any economy really, access to land is at its core. We have a unique land management system in the Northwest Territories that stands alone. The Member for the seconder of the motion, the Member for Frame Lake, brought that up only recently, and it stands to reason why. You know, what is this achieving other than unreasonable delays in accessing land that's crucial for development. This motion speaks to the need for land for affordable housing. This motion speaks to the land to access to land for community development. Communities cannot master their own economic futures and pilot their communities forward without access to land within their boundaries. It's impossible. And it's been this way for far too long. This is not the first time a motion like this has come before this Assembly. There were similar motions in the previous Assembly, the Assembly that I served in. I believe our longest serving Member as well has seen more than a few of these motions. So that goes back a long ways. And I know that this is a frustratingly persistent problem.
I know this Cabinet has signalled that they are taking this seriously and does want to move forward, and this motion is designed to give that some push. The pilot project that has been initiated, we would like to see it move forward, and this motion contemplates that. But it's not just a Yellowknife motion. It's a motion for all communities.
I've spoken to colleagues from other regional centres and other places where this motion would benefit, and it would be very much a benefit. I want to point out that this call to action in no way impedes upon the sovereign rights of Indigenous nations to control their own land or to negotiate their own land rights agreements, as is in the case of the Akaitcho and Deh Cho First Nations which are still unresolved. We're very sensitive to that, Mr. Speaker, and we don't want to presuppose the outcomes of those land dispositions. This is specifically speaking to public land that is not subject to interim land withdrawal that's currently within these boundaries.
Excuses in the past have been well, the GNWT might need this land for a future purpose or, you know, there might be a coming claim or something like that. We need to work in the present and set people up for the future. And we can't do that if we don't give them the land in their own backyards. So if we're going to bring, in particular, the cost of housing down and make more housing affordable, which is the number 1 priority of this Assembly, we need to pass this motion. We need to make land available to communities, and it needs to start as soon as possible.
This is also something the standing committee on Accountability and Oversight has put in their report on the main estimates, that this is something they want to something the committee all supports. So this motion is reenforcing that message, that if we don't modernize our system of land management, ensure that communities have access to land so they can plan, then we will not move forward as a territory. We will not solve our housing crisis, and we will not unlock the potential economic growth in our communities, from our largest community here in Yellowknife to our smallest communities that could benefit from this, from access to their own lands. So I strongly encourage the House to support this motion, and I look forward to the coming debate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. To the motion. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just briefly, I support this motion. I've heard from Mayor Clarence Wood several times since I've come down, since I was elected, that it's been an issue for the town of Inuvik, whether it's for the expansion of the Inuvik satellite station facility or just accessed land for more R2 and R1 residential property which, as you know, is being scooped up right now by our Indigenous governments, which is great. So just wanted to reiterate my colleagues' echo my colleagues' sediments that, yes, it is an issue and we realize that it is being looked at by the government right now, and I think that it is in AOC's response to the address, but I do support this motion.
Inuvik Boot Lake. To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mover of the motion, I want to thank him for doing that, and certainly the seconder. This is an important issue for all communities, not just Yellowknife. This affects all public governments, whether they're municipal or Indigenous governments. You know, it affects everyone to move forward on their plans, their growth of their communities, as well as the sustainability of their economies. I mean, if you cannot have land to plan with, you can't predict you can't plan for the future, whether it's housing or business interests. So there's no sense in repeating everything my colleague from Range Lake had said because I basically took the best of things to say about this motion, and I acknowledge that because he's absolutely right. This is critical. And it makes it very challenging. And if a city or a town or whatever community has to apply for land each and every time when they're wanting to do big and difficult initiatives that take time, the last thing you need is the municipal and community affairs to stand in their way, and that discourages growth of the community. So I'll be supporting the motion, and I think it's I think this is so critical for the government to respond on and finally show leadership on this initiative. Why hold land in this form when it's not needed? It's so unusual. I can't think of a single reason why we are so unique on this particular file. Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife Centre. To the motion. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly won't need 20 minutes to speak on this one.
Mr. Speaker, I'm also rising to speak in favour of the motion. Mr. Speaker, when I served on Yellowknife city council, the issue of access to lands was on ongoing frustration. When I asked staff at one point, you know, in a particular moment of frustration, whether any other jurisdictions in Canada have systems like this where lands within municipal boundaries have multiple layers of jurisdictional management? The answer that staff gave me at the time was no, that the NWT is unique.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that we have outstanding land claims and certainly support excluding lands under interim withdrawal from consideration for transfer, as spoken to by the Member from Range Lake. However, I don't otherwise see why municipalities shouldn't be managing lands within their boundaries as most municipalities do anywhere else in Canada.
If the departments implicated in this motion are concerned about certain implications of granting communities this responsibility, I ask could those be addressed in ways which don't impede access to lands for municipal development which aren't of concern?
I spoke to priorities in my Budget Address earlier today, Mr. Speaker. Duplication of land management in municipal boundaries, where municipalities have been devolved responsibility by the territorial government, is not something which strikes me as being a high priority. I don't think the territorial government would or does appreciate when their federal counterpart overly involves itself in governance of the territory. The reason authority is devolved is to ensure local oversight and appropriate levels of governance, whether that be from the federal government to the territory or from the territory to municipalities. Where possible, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to unnecessarily impede communities from developing their lands to increase access to housing, which I see as being the primary reason for this motion coming forward. Let's find a way to move forward on this which works for municipalities and do what we can to ensure that whatever concerns exist on increasing municipal autonomy are addressed with reasonableness, fairness, and consideration of the top priority of this Assembly, which is development of housing. Sorry, I don't have the off the top of my head. But that wraps up my written comments on the motion, Mr. Speaker. I just think that we should be prioritizing where we can, not getting in the way of municipalities developing their lands. I think my colleagues have spoken to this already; I won't repeat what's been said. So that stand as my list of reasons for supporting this motion. And I'm certainly interested to hear the government's response. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. To the motion. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the motion calls for block land transfers. I believe what was intended was bulk land transfers. The block land transfers were the historical process of the transfer of administration of lands from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. And so perhaps the Member would like to amend the seven instances in the motion that say "block" and change them to "bulk" so that it's accurate for they're going for, if that's what they are going for. But regardless, the government will be abstaining from this vote and will be providing a response within 120 days if it passes. Thank you.
To the motion. To the Member from Range Lake, final say.
Thank you. Yeah, I think the Honourable Premier is however it works out, I think the intention is clear. We'll allow the government to respond to this motion, but the intention is, of course, land held by the GNWT to move towards municipalities, one government to another.
And in cases where there's designated authorities, there would be a conversation with bands that manage their communities as with municipal powers.
So I'm sure the Minister of Environment and Climate Change probably has more a technical response that will be forthcoming if this motion carries, and it sounds like we have good support, and we'll be able to have a conversation or be able to consider the full information. But a lot of this motion what this motion contemplates is work behind the scenes, work with municipalities. I'm sure we will bring this back to the communities we represent and make sure that their aspirations for access to their own land is brought forward to them. So with that I will ask, again, that the House support this motion and we move forward into a future where municipalities have control over their own economic destinies through adequate access to their own lands. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Member. To the motion.
Question.
