Thank you. Mr. Kakfwi.
Debates of March 2nd, 1998
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1221
The Chair John Ningark
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1221
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not know the exact provisions or wording in the claims, but on exclusively owned lands, they would have the right to harvest those timbers.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Vince Steen Nunakput
My question is, Mr. Chairman, are these large tracks of land whereby they would have the exclusive right to harvest this timber?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Kakfwi.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We can give the Member the exact size of lands that are owned exclusively by these two groups and exactly what harvesting rights they have to timber in those areas and what provisions are made for managing and regulating the harvesting of timber in those areas under the claims provisions. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Are you stating you will give information to Mr. Steen at a later date?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
We are going to be sitting here for a long time, so we would try to get it as quickly as we can. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, if groups have the exclusive right to harvest, do they have the exclusive right to fight forest fires in those lands too?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Kakfwi.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The provision for fire fighting is provided by our government under criteria that sets out which are priority areas the beneficiary under those claims have exclusive ownership over certain tracks of land. As private land owners, they would have the right to fight their own fires within those areas as they deem necessary. We would fight fires only in areas that were deemed to be more or less in the public interest and set out as priority areas by communities and under our own policies. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Forest Management. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Vince Steen Nunakput
For clarification, Mr. Chairman, those lands privately owned and where aboriginal groups own the surface rights and presumably the timber, do they have the responsibility of fighting forest fires on that particular land and not this government?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Kakfwi.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Mr. Chairman, the government fights fires in areas that are considered to be high priority areas. They might be for harvesting because of timber resources, those things that are deemed to be in the public interest. We also try to protect private property. Those are the general criteria we use for determining where and when we should be fighting fires. The aboriginal groups would not be excluded from this policy. Their lands would not be excluded from this policy.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, the point I am trying to make here is on public lands that have forest on it, anybody harvesting the forest would pay to the government, a certain fee to harvest that forest. Therefore, it stands to reason that the government would in fact benefit, to some degree, from the timber, but on private land, this government does not stand to gain anything. The total forest product for forest would go to the ownership of private groups. It stands to reason then that this government is giving money to fight fires on public land to protect public interests. That is why I bring up the question of whether or not this government has the mandate to fight forest fires to protect private interest.
I also bring this question up in relation to that area of the forest that is burnt on private land and whether or not we pay to reforest that land. I do not know why we would pay to reforest the land since we do not benefit from the harvesting, only the private group would. That is the line of my questioning, Mr. Chairman. The second part of the question obviously would be, do we have reforesting projects on private land?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Kakfwi.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The only way we can go on those lands, if we felt we had reason to go on to fight fires, is with the prior agreement of the land owners. If we felt it was in the public interest, so to speak, to go fight fires on those private lands, we would do that.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Kakfwi.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would not be doing that type of activity on private lands. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1222
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Forest management, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $27.761 million. Agreed? Mr. Steen.