Thank you. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister convene regular meetings with Indigenous governments or their designated representatives, protected areas management boards, and relevant co-management bodies for the purpose of promoting cooperative and collaborative working relationships for the effective management of protected areas. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think the idea, I know the idea here is that we heard the Minister of Lands make a statement earlier in this sitting, as well, about a land use planning forum that happens, I think, every couple of years, where different land use planning boards, bodies, come to together to talk about their lessons learned, how they can share their experience moving forward. There is already an NWT board forum where the co-management bodies in the Northwest Territories get together to talk about how they can collaborate, maybe joint training, working together on issues. I think the suggestion here is that it would be a good idea for something, a similar sort of forum, for those bodies and organizations that are working on protected areas so that they can come together on a regular basis to learn from each other and share their experience and improve the way that they all work moving forward. I think it's a good recommendation, as well. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Finally, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister develop a process for engaging Indigenous governments in the development of regulations under this and other devolution-related legislation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think it's fair to say that all of committee agreed with this recommendation. We all have maybe some different ways we want to go at this. We are going to deal with that when we get to the clause-by-clause review of the bill, but we heard very strong evidence from the Indigenous governments themselves that they want to have a clear role moving forward in development of regulations, similar to the process that was used in actually developing the bill itself. I support the recommendation. I support co-management. This is coming directly from the Indigenous governments themselves. We may deal with this in terms of some amendments when we get to clause by clause, but I stand by this recommendation, and I look forward to a formal response from the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we discussed in our report, there was an effort to put something similar in law around this, the co-drafting process, so that there would be a clear pathway for engagement of Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories. When we undertook our standing committee hearing of the bill, the Minister indicated at the time that this discussion would play out at the intergovernmental council. The only concern I have around that is many of the Indigenous governments that were invited to participate in the co-drafting exercise are not signatories to the devolution agreement and are not members of the intergovernmental council. Given that they had an opportunity to have a seat at the table for the co-drafting process, I think it's prudent to continue that process moving on. So giving the Minister the authority to develop a protocol and that is clearly laid out in law just gives certainty to our Indigenous partners that there will be something moving forward. I certainly don't think I heard anything from our consultations that the relationship as it relates to these bills was flawed. I think everyone had very good things to say about a strong working relationship with the GNWT on co-drafting. There were some process issues, but they can work those out. The real priority for me is to ensure that these things continue, so I support this motion.

Again, this is a recommendation to government. It may be moved by the House and accepted by the House, but it's not adopted by the government necessarily, so the government will take its time to respond to these recommendations. I would like to see more certainty. Although I appreciate this motion, we need to go a bit further because that is what we heard and that is our role as lawmakers, to ensure the laws reflect the will of the people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Well, that is it for the recommendations. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Committee Report 18-18(3)?

Thank you, committee. This concludes our consideration of the report. We have next agreed to consider Bill 38, Protected Areas Act. It can be found in your big grey binders. I would like to welcome to the floor, in his first official duties on the floor as deputy law clerk, Mr. Toby Kruger. If committee is all ready, I will ask the Minister responsible for Bill 38 to introduce it. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 38, Protected Areas Act. The bill sets out the processes for establishing a protected area in the Northwest Territories. The bill lays out the process to nominate the candidate area, how establishment agreements with Indigenous governments or organizations will be entered into for management of a protected area, regulation-making authorities, and prohibited and acceptable activities in a protected area.

Environment and Natural Resources has developed the bill through a partnership process with a technical working group that is comprised of Indigenous governments and organizations and renewable resource boards. Valuable input was also received from a stakeholder advisory group, public engagement, consultation with Indigenous governments and organizations, and other GNWT departments. The department appreciates all comments and recommendations provided through the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment review process, and the department is confident that the bill has become stronger with their amendment.

That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Does the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment have any opening remarks? Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further remarks. I appreciate the Minister's comments, and we look forward to going through the bill clause-by-clause. Thank you.

Thank you. I understand the Minister has witnesses he wishes to bring into the Chamber. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have with me, to my left, Mr. Robert Jenkins, who is the assistant deputy minister of Environment and Climate Change. To my right, I have Ms. Kelly McLaughlin, who is legislative counsel with the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.