Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development

Sustaining Development in the Northwest Territories

(Chapter 4—Spring 2010 Report of the Auditor General)

13 May 2010

Sheila Fraser, FCA
Auditor General of Canada

Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our Office’s work related to Chapter 4 of my Spring 2010 Report—Sustaining Development in the Northwest Territories. With me today is Scott Vaughan, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

The federal government has a mandate to promote political and economic development in the Northwest Territories and to protect the environment. Our audit looked at whether responsible federal departments have implemented key measures to prepare for sustainable and balanced development in the Northwest Territories.

These measures included

• settling comprehensive land claim agreements and self- government agreements,
• establishing and implementing a regulatory system that protects the environment, and
• supporting appropriate economic development and skills training programs for Aboriginal peoples in the Northwest Territories.

These three measures are very closely linked. Agreements with Aboriginal peoples that set out the governance rights and rights related to the ownership of land and resources are important for environmental protection and economic development. They help to provide a level of certainty and predictability for business, industry, communities, and governments. Similarly, protecting the environment is important since Aboriginal communities in the Northwest Territories depend on wildlife, water, and land for subsistence and for economic development opportunities. For the purposes of today’s discussion, I will focus my opening comments on the first two measures.

Almost all of the Northwest Territories either lies within settled land claim areas or is the subject of ongoing negotiations. At the time of our audit, four land claim agreements had been finalized. One of them—the Tlicho Agreement—was also a self-government agreement. Four other land claim agreements and ten self-government agreements were under negotiation. While much remains to be done, it is our view that the efforts to settle land claim and self-government agreements represent a significant achievement and an important step toward sustainable and balanced development in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chair, let me now turn to our examination of the environmental regulatory system. Protecting the environment is critical, both for Aboriginal communities, as I have mentioned, and because northern ecosystems are often more fragile than in the south. There are also profound changes taking place in the North as a result of climate change and because of the long-range transport of air pollutants, which brings toxic and other substances to northern communities and to the environment of the Northwest Territories.

We examined whether Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, or INAC, and Environment Canada had established and implemented an adequate regulatory system in the Northwest Territories. We found that, in regions with settled land claim agreements, there are systems and structures that support land use plans and provide a means of adequate consultation with communities.

In regions without comprehensive land claim agreements in place, however, there is uncertainty about Aboriginal title to the land, how it may be used, and who should be consulted to make development decisions. Community leaders from these areas have also indicated that the existing process does not provide their communities with adequate representation for considering development proposals that affect their lands under negotiation.

Moreover, in regions without settled land claims, we noted a lack of specific mechanisms for developing land use plans. Land use plans are important for developing effective, predictable, and consistent regulatory systems. They define where and under what conditions resource development activities may take place. Without a formal land use plan, development decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis and decisions related to project approvals may therefore take longer.

INAC also has specific responsibilities for monitoring the cumulative impact of development. Cumulative impact refers to changes an activity causes to the environment, added to changes caused by other past, present, and future activities. Monitoring cumulative impact on the environment is important because it provides co-management boards with environmental information to make informed decisions on development proposals. We examined whether INAC had established the needs and priorities for monitoring cumulative impact and had implemented a plan to do so. We also examined whether Environment Canada had supported INAC in these responsibilities.

We found that, 11 years after receiving a mandate to do so, INAC had not yet put in place a program to monitor cumulative impact. Similarly, funding for Environment Canada’s program that would support cumulative impact monitoring ended in 2007. As a result, neither department had implemented this program.

We note that the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada has recently announced a proposal for regulatory reform in the North. This proposal included the appointment of a chief federal negotiator to lead consultations on changes to the land and water boards and $8 million to support cumulative impact monitoring in the North. Also of note, the proposal reiterates the importance of respecting comprehensive land claim agreements. If these initiatives are fully implemented, they could have an impact on some of the issues we raise in our audit.

Overall, we concluded that Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Environment Canada had not adequately implemented key measures designed to prepare for sustainable and balanced development in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer the Committee’s questions.