Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to address your committee today on four bills which contain proposed amendments to legislation for quarrying in NWT communities; amendments that will help to remove any uncertainty with the existing wording in our municipal legislation and in the Commissioner's Land Act.

First of all, Mr. Chairman, I need to advise you that these legislative amendments are quite unusual in one sense, due to the retroactivity provisions contained in the bills. I will try to explain the particular circumstances that justify this legislative approach. However, apart from the retroactivity aspect, I trust that I will also be able to demonstrate that the additional clauses in the bills are not otherwise controversial and are designed simply to clarify the status quo concerning quarrying in communities.

It is also very important to note, Mr. Chairman, that these bills do not impact in any way on aboriginal or treaty rights, existing land claims agreements or any ongoing negotiations relating to aboriginal rights.

At this time, I would like to provide the committee with a brief overview as to why these legislative amendments are not being proposed. I am sure you are aware, Mr. Chairman, that every NWT community has at least one local quarry that is used to provide sand, gravel or some other type of granular material. This granular material is essential in our northern climate for most construction projects, especially to provide insulation against the permafrost.

Historically, the local public quarries were managed by the communities on an informal basis. However, as the communities grew and the scale of development increased, there arose a need for an administrative system to address competing interests between the needs of the government, building contractors and local residents.

The GNWT created the Commissioner's Land Act and regulations in 1969, and, around about the same time, also developed municipal legislation for the operations of cities, towns, villages, hamlets and settlements.

In 1988, the GNWT also created legislation for charter communities. Based on this original legislative framework, the GNWT has entered into quarrying leases for quarry administration agreements with many of the large communities. These agreements were designed to formalize the important role of the communities in managing their public quarries at the local level. A number of these communities have been carrying on with these arrangements since 1970. Mr. Chairman, some of our legislation, such as the Commissioner's Land Act, is 25 years old and not as legally up to date as it should be with case law that exists elsewhere in Canada concerning the management of quarries in communities.

It was recently that the GNWT Department of Justice undertook a detailed review of our existing legislation. This was prompted by two ongoing lawsuits directed against the NWT municipality and the Commissioner. The court cases have challenged the validity of certain aspects of our quarry arrangements made between the GNWT and communities. The Department of Justice has recommended that our existing legislation be amended to remove any uncertainty about the past and present authority of GNWT and communities to enter into agreements and leases with respect to quarries and these lands to issue quarry permits and to levy and collect quarry fees and charges.

As a result, the bills confirmed that the communities and the GNWT have and have always had the authority to enter into leases and agreements respecting quarries and land in the communities, and to issue quarry permits.

In addition, the bill amending the Commissioner's Land Act confirms the authority of the GNWT to make regulations respecting quarrying on Commissioner's Land. That bill also expressly validates any quarry fees or charges that were levied by the municipal corporation or a land agent before the bill's introduction.

The fact that those fee-validating provisions, as well as the municipal bills, are to come into force on the date of introduction of first reading, is somewhat unusual. This date was chosen to preclude any further lawsuits against municipalities and the GNWT with respect to the past quarry operations that might otherwise be encouraged by any publicity generated by the introductions of these bills.

I want to stress that there is no attempt being made here to impose any retroactive penalties on quarry operators. Virtually all these quarry operators have been properly following the quarry rules set out in each municipality, with full knowledge of the local quarry administration system.

These bills will simply confirm that all of these local rules are within the legal capacity of the municipal corporation, are thus validated.

Mr. Chairman, nothing in these bills will detract from allowing committee of the whole and the Legislative Assembly to have a full and thorough examination of these amendments. These bills will not come into effect unless they receive the approval of the Assembly at third reading, in the normal process followed then by assent from the Commissioner. However, if and when this final approval does occur, then the effective commencement date of the municipal legislation and the fee-validating provisions of the bill amending the Commissioner's Land Act would be as of April 1994, the date of first reading for the reasons that I have just mentioned regarding possible new court challenges.

I want to assure you that these amendments are not an initiative to significantly alter the intent of any of the existing arrangements between the GNWT and the communities concerning local quarries. Most importantly, there is no attempt on our part to prejudice aboriginal or treaty rights in existing land claims agreements or any outstanding aboriginal claims negotiations. Aboriginal rights are protected under the Constitution Act, 1982, which is superior to any act of the Northwest Territories.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to assure you that despite the unusual retroactive provisions of these bills, they are simply a matter of making the existing legislation more explicit with regard to quarrying in communities. These bills clearly need to be addressed in this upcoming session, and I hope that your committee will look favourably on the intent and wording of these legislative amendments.

Mr. Chairman, I will now be prepared to answer any detailed questions that you or Members may have on the proposed bills. Thank you.