Mixed reaction as review of N.W.T.'s Mineral Resources Act begins
Regular MLAs have 120 days to review, recommend changes on key piece of legislation
As the N.W.T.'s Mineral Resources Act moves through the process of becoming law, some MLAs are expressing concerns about how effective the new legislation will be.
The bill proposes revamping mining legislation that has been unchanged since before devolution.
Some of the most important changes include giving the Industry, Tourism and Investment minister new powers to set regulations, and requiring mining companies to sign benefit agreements with Indigenous governments affected by new mining projects.
MLAs Kevin O'Reilly and Cory Vanthuyne spoke about the bill in the Legislature Tuesday during its second reading — a step on the bill's way to becoming a law.
O'Reilly expressed concern about those new powers and questioned whether the territory's Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment could adequately regulate the mining industry.
"It's not clear what the regulation process is going to look like, it doesn't have to go to a standing committee, it doesn't have to involve the public, [it's] very unclear," he said. "It's in the hands of the minister to sort those matters out."
Though there are some aspects O'Reilly approves of, such as the benefit agreements and online staking, he pointed out several specific areas that he says need to be improved.
"It could and should have been done a little bit differently," he said. "What we've ended up with is really sort of a hollow shell in some ways, where all the details are left to regulations."
Those details include reporting exploration work, hiring targets and royalties. He says they're all important topics not included in the legislation, but will instead be up to the government to set out later on.
O'Reilly has long been a critic of the government's approach to the mining industry, suggesting that it needs to take a tougher approach, especially around collecting royalty payments from mining companies.
The Mineral Resources Act does not set out any specific rules about royalties. Instead, it gives cabinet latitude to set new regulations respecting how much mines repay the territory and how that would be enforced.
Royalty rates 'lowest in the world'
The lack of change to the royalty regime is concerning to Craig Scott, executive director of Ecology North, who says royalty rates in the Northwest Territories are some of the "lowest in the world."
"We are really tied to the mining industry right now and the government should be spending more time and effort to diversify the economy," he said. "Using royalties to do that would be a great opportunity.... these are non-renewable resources and they have to benefit all people in the N.W.T. in the long term."
Wally Schumann, the minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, has said the territory is working on a separate review of its royalty regime. That review is complex and expected to take several years.
He defended his bill in the Legislature this week, conceding that it wouldn't please everyone, but said it will serve the needs of the Northwest Territories.
"Not everybody will be happy with everything in this bill, including me," Schumann said. "This bill is built on collaboration and consensus of the people of the Northwest Territories.
"I support the bill that we're bringing forward. I believe it is the right bill at the right time for the right industry."
I believe it is the right bill at the right time for the right industry.- Minister Wally Schumann
N.W.T. & Nunavut Chamber of Mines president Tom Hoefer offered cautious optimism about the bill, saying the government's plans to move to online map staking and to demand more geoscience information from companies — both asked for by the chamber in a 2017 submission on the bill — are potential wins.
The bill would allow the territorial government to collect statistical data throughout the production cycle, which spokesperson Mike Westwick says "could" include geoscience information.
The government also says it plans to demand more information during the later-stage exploration and mine development period. It intends to eventually make that information public.
Environmentalists also support the increase in public data, says Westwick. MLA O'Reilly has said it could help prevent needless exploration in mineral-poor areas.
"It's great if there's common ground because then there's less people struggling to argue a position," Hoefer said.
Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart says he supports the bill, but wonders about whether making benefit agreements a requirement will make much of a difference, since the current system appears to be working.
"I just don't know why we need an additional tool if we already have two other tools [impact benefit agreements and socio-economic agreements] that allow equity for Indigenous groups and governments affected by mining," he said.
Ultimately the bill gives the Northwest Territories the ability to set its own rules about its most important industry, Testart said, and he believes there's room for improvement as it's reviewed by the standing committee on economic development and the environment.
Act revised, and revised again
The consensus government system in the Northwest Territories allows regular MLAs to comment and provide input on prospective bills before they become law.
That process is usually secret, but in October, leaked correspondence between cabinet and the standing committee suggested the two sides were far apart on several issues covered by the act.
Since then, there have been revisions that brought the bill into its current form — which unanimously passed its first and second readings, leaving only one more step before becoming law.
Now, MLAs have 120 days to review and offer comment on the bill before it goes back to the Legislative Assembly for its third and final reading.
With files from Katie Toth