Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Ashton.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The situation is quite clear in the Nunavut communities that, because of the Nunavut final agreement and the legislation to implement the Nunavut final agreement, the land is being turned over as municipal lands to these communities. In the western Arctic, the lands are still administered by government, mostly by the territorial government, as Commissioner's lands. If there was going to be any lands turned over to municipalities as municipal lands, the normal way for the communities to own these lands would be that they would buy them from the GNWT, usually for a nominal amount. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ashton. Mr. Antoine.

We are talking about municipalities having authority to acquire, hold and sell real and personal property. We are talking about land here. The answer I received is assuming that the government already has the authority over these lands. How did that authority come about? How did you acquire these lands so that you are able to release them to municipalities? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Minister, where is the legislative authority?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I would like to ask Mr. Ashton to respond.

Mr. Ashton.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The answer to that is, I guess, tied up in the whole question of what is Commissioner's land. The territorial government, per se, does not own any land. What happens is that the federal government transfers the administration and control over certain parcels of land to the Commissioner. By administration, I mean that the Commissioner's land staff would administer the land instead of the land staff of the Minister of DIAND. By control, I mean that the territorial legislation would apply instead of the federal legislation. As we know, there is a dispute going back to the treaties and so on as to who actually owns the land. The federal government claims they have an interest in the land for various historical reasons and certainly the aboriginal people claim they have an interest in the land. In those areas of the NWT where land claims are not settled, this is an issue that needs to be resolved between the parties. But, where the claims are settled and there is some certainty, the federal government has created the legislative authority for the Commissioner to act on behalf of the Minister of DIAND and any lands that would be sold to a municipal corporation would be sold under the signature of the Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. He answered my question and he also answered the second question I was going to ask. My concern here is that in areas where land claims have not been settled, where the federal government gets authority to transfer land when it's in dispute. There are disputes with the Treaty 8 groups and the Treaty 11 groups over land. According to the treaties land was not given up, but the federal government is assuming it owns the land and therefore transfers it to Commissioner's land and this is property you are talking about transferring over to the municipalities. It's in dispute. That's the problem I see here.

I said earlier that the solution would be to clearly define ownership within the remaining regions where no land claim agreements or land entitlements exist today. I would just like to make that point. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. We seem to be moving slightly away from Bill 4, however I will let the Minister respond to Mr. Antoine. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Mr. Ashton to respond again. Thank you.

Mr. Ashton.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will just make a quick comment in response to the Member's remarks and that is to say that the federal government has passed legislation, the Territorial Lands Act, which concerns land within the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. That is their legislative basis to deal with land in the Northwest Territories and to turn over any land to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. However, I would just point out, as was mentioned earlier, that the territorial government follows a land lease-only policy and, in those areas where land claims are not settled, the policy ensures there are no sales of land to municipalities or to others where claims are not settled.

Thank you. General comments. Shall we go clause by clause?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Clause By Clause

Thank you. Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Hamlets Act. Clause 1.

Agreed.

---Agreed

I'll go slowly in order to accommodate anyone who has any concerns with any of the clauses within Bill 4. Clause 2. Mr. Zoe.

Thank you. There is a request from the floor that we take a five minute break. Do we have the concurrence of the committee?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you, very much. We'll take a five minute break.

---SHORT RECESS