Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As most northerners know, land is a valuable and scarce resource which must be managed by all governments, in trust for the present generation and future generations of our people. The importance of this resource to communities has been recognized in the Nunavut final claim agreement, which calls for all Commissioner's land -- land held by the Government of the Northwest Territories -- in the built-up areas to be transferred to the municipalities of Nunavut within three years after the agreement is ratified. Claims under way or being implemented in the Dene/Metis claims settlement area in the western Arctic may also be expected to promote greater community control of municipal lands.
Up until now, the role of many municipalities, especially of the hamlets, in land management has been limited. Hamlets would give the GNWT advice on who should receive a parcel or parcels of Commissioner's land, and often the hamlets would act as the GNWT agent for purposes of receiving applications for land from local residents.
Now -- as the claims process is completed in each area and in response to wishes of communities to seek more authorities under initiatives such as the community transfer initiative -- municipal governments will be able to take on direct management and control of complex land administration programs, which require technical and legal expertise and are tied in with the community planning and zoning processes.
In order to assist municipal governments of the NWT in getting ready for major new authority and responsibilities in municipal land management, Cabinet has approved a revised municipal lands policy. This policy is based on principles which emphasize the following: municipal lands as a valuable resource; the need for government to use fair and consistent practices when selling or leasing municipal lands; that when municipal land is sold, it should normally be sold at a price which only recovers the costs of government to develop the land; and, that land speculation should be discouraged.
Some of the major features of the new municipal lands policy include the following: the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and each municipal council would sign a land administration agreement which would outline the conditions for transfer of Commissioner's land to the municipal corporation; municipal councils would pass by-laws to adopt their land administration agreements with the Minister. The land administration agreement will be a public document and the community residents will know how the municipal government intends to price municipal land for lease or sale; municipal governments would be expected to set the price for new land lots on the basis of the costs to territorial and municipal governments of developing the lots. This should ensure that the public, especially new home owners and small businesses starting up, pay reasonable prices for lots.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this new municipal lands policy clearly places community governments on the road to exercising autonomy in the management of public lands in their communities. The department has developed draft legislation intended to support this policy further and place even more authority in the hands of municipal governments. I will table this draft legislation with the Assembly today.
The municipal lands policy is being translated and will be sent to mayors and councils as soon as possible over the next month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.