The Proposed Devolution Agreement

What is a “devolution”? de·vo·lu·tionˌde-və-ˈlü-shən alsoˌdē-və- : transference of rights, powers, property, or responsibility to another; especially: the surrender of powers to local authorities by a central government

Previous devolutions to the NWT Health Care Social Services Education Highways Forestry Airports

is the transfer of responsibility for managing… …from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories This devolution Public Lands Rights in Respect of Water Resources

Key Benefits

1 Decisions Made in the NWT Devolution means decisions will be made by a more local, accountable and responsive government - giving residents more say in how public lands and resources are used and protected resource revenues are spent related public programs are delivered

Devolution will provide significant direct and indirect economic benefits for the NWT including new resource revenues for public and Aboriginal governments new jobs and business opportunities for all NWT residents greater control over the economy 2 Economic Benefits

3 Opportunities to Work Together Devolution will create new opportunities for public and Aboriginal governments to work together through an Intergovernmental Council to coordinate land and resource management an Onshore/Offshore Cooperation Agreement to coordinate transboundary jurisdictions a Waste Sites Management Committee to provide recommendations on remediation

Aboriginal People and Devolution

Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Aboriginal and treaty rights will continue to apply just as they do now Public lands will still be available for the settlement of claims Devolution will not affect ownership of settlement lands

Highlights of the Agreement

Chapter 3: Transfer of Responsibilities Ch. 3 explains how legislative authority will be transferred to the GNWT

Chapter 3 At least 26 federal Acts and Regulations will be mirrored including the Territorial Lands Act NWT and Nunavut Mining Regulations Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act Canada Petroleum Resources Act This will provide the GNWT significant new authority related to lands and resources

Chapter 3 Environmental assessment in the Mackenzie Valley will continue as set out in existing land claims The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA) will remain federal – but many decisions under the Act will become GNWT responsibilities The MVRMA will be reviewed in 5 years Existing interests will be grandfathered – ensuring continuity for current rights holders

Chapter 3 The Government of Canada can take back land where it is in the national interest, including for the creation of National Parks the settlement of land claims Existing protected areas will also be continued

Chapter 4: Post-Devolution Resource Management Ch. 4 refers to the cooperative agreement made among the GNWT and participating Aboriginal governments to establish a new Intergovernmental Council work cooperatively and collaboratively on land and resource management

Chapter 5: Onshore/Offshore Cooperation Ch. 5 refers to the cooperative agreement made among the Government of Canada, GNWT, and Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to coordinate and cooperate on oil and gas development work together in the regulation and development of straddling resources

Chapter 6: Waste Sites Ch. 6 describes how responsibility for sites that need to be cleaned up by government will be addressed

Chapter 6 Canada will remain responsible for the clean up of waste sites created on public lands before devolution GNWT will be responsible for waste sites created on public lands after devolution A Waste Sites Management Committee will be established for Northern governments to make recommendations to Canada on waste site clean up

Chapter 7: Human Resources Ch. 7 describes how some federal government employees who work on land and resource management will be offered GNWT jobs

Chapter 9: Financial Matters Ch. 9 describes the financial resources that Canada will provide to the GNWT and Aboriginal governments (Resource Revenues are described in Chapter 10)

Chapter 9 The GNWT will receive $67.3M each year for program delivery and other responsibilities $26.5M in one time payments to support the work needed to prepare for devolution (Note: Resource Revenues are described in Chapter 10)

Chapter 9 Aboriginal governments will receive Up to $3M (shared) annually Up to $4M (shared) in one time payments to prepare for devolution $200K (each) annually to participate in a Waste Sites Management Committee

Resource Revenues

Resource revenues now Right now all of the resource revenues from NWT public lands go to directly Ottawa Last year Ottawa collected $136M+ from the NWT

Chapter 10: Net Fiscal Benefit Ch. 10 describes how the GNWT will keep up to 50% of the resource revenues from NWT public lands* GNWT share by year: 2012/13 = $69M 2020/21 = up to $100M * Land Claim Royalties are paid first, before this division

Up to a maximum There is a maximum amount of resource revenue that the GNWT can keep each year Why? National fairness and consistency As the territory grows so does the amount the NWT can keep each year By 2020 it could be as high as $100M per year

How it will work

Resource Revenue Sharing The GNWT will share up to 25% of its resource revenue with participating Aboriginal governments Aboriginal government share by year 2012/13 = $17.25M 2020/21 = up to $25M

Existing land claim revenue The Tłįchǫ, Gwich’in, and Sahtu are already entitled to a share of resource revenue from Mackenzie Valley public lands from their land claims Devolution will provide them with additional revenues from all public lands throughout the NWT

Resource revenues after devolution

Why public revenues are shared To strengthen the NWT by supporting Aboriginal governments Aboriginal governments can use these resources to meet the priorities of their communities

Potential uses for resource revenue The Legislative Assembly will determine priorities for spending resource revenues based on northern needs

Next Steps

Where we are now Negotiations concluded in March of 2013 The proposed (draft) Agreement is now being shared with the public and Aboriginal governments Each government will make its own decision about whether to sign the final Agreement

Participating governments Government of the Northwest Territories Government of Canada Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Northwest Territory Métis Nation Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated Gwich’in Tribal Council Tłįchǫ Government

Approval process For the GNWT the decision to sign will be voted on by all MLAs in the Legislative Assembly Other governments will have their own process for approval

Timing for Implementation Significant implementation work is required to make devolution happen, including developing legislation finalizing an organizational design preparing job offers The target date to have this all done is April 1, 2014

Questions