Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These amendments do two things with land. The first thing that these amendments do is they clarify that a municipal corporation can lease land and subdivide land. The second thing these amendments do is they make it mandatory for a municipal corporation to pass a land administration by-law before they can sell or lease lands to others.
I think it is on this second point that people have some concern. Municipal corporations can currently purchase or sell land under all three acts we're dealing with tonight. What these amendments do is provide a framework within which a municipal corporation can sell or lease land. They stipulate that, before municipal corporations can dispose of land, they have to have in place a land administration by-law which would set out the process of how a municipal corporation can sell or lease land. These amendments don't give land to the municipal corporations, nor do they affect the status of land currently held in communities.