Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS the Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-15, An Act to replace the Northwest Territories Act, to implement certain provisions of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement and to repeal or make amendments to the Territorial Lands Act, the Northwest Territories Waters Act, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, other acts and certain orders and regulations to parliament;

AND WHEREAS Bill C-15 will eliminate the regional land and water boards to form a single Yellowknife-based land and water board with only one representative from each region;

AND WHEREAS our Aboriginal government partners and many NWT residents oppose this amalgamation;

AND WHEREAS the intent of land claim settlements in the settled regions was to establish and maintain regional land and water boards as they currently exist, so that decisions were made by people most familiar with regional issues;

AND WHEREAS the regional land and water boards have excellent track records and evaluations that demonstrate they are effective and efficient at responding to and administering land and water board applications;

AND WHEREAS the amalgamation of regional land and water boards does not address the core process issues of unsettled land claims, delayed ministerial decisions, and federal failures to confirm nominees or designate nominees to the boards and other findings of the 2005 and 2010 NWT Environmental Audits;

AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories will achieve substantial new delegated and actual authorities to manage land and water in the Northwest Territories on territorial lands effective April 1, 2014;

AND WHEREAS a guiding principle of the draft NWT Land Use and Sustainability Framework is that “communities and regions have the opportunity for meaningful engagement and input into land-use decisions;”

AND WHEREAS staffed regional offices would help maintain regional capacity and enable the accustomed regional input into the land, water and resource management, monitoring and enforcement process;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the Government of the Northwest Territories to work with our regional Aboriginal government partners to determine the desirability and feasibility of establishing and staffing regional offices as a basis for ensuring meaningful input into land and water management structures;

AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board to seek support and resources towards this initiative;

AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories make a public commitment to work with future federal governments to delay the elimination of or reinstitute the regional land and water boards;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories report to the House on the results of such collaborative discussions with our Aboriginal partners, and provide the results of feasibility studies to implement actions resulting from this process within 120 days

Mahsi.