Thank you, Mr. Chair. This motion is about giving the Minister a new power to enter into an agreement with Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, and potentially with resource boards and land use boards, that are relevant to the particular regulations.
To enter into a formal agreement on how those regulations are going to work if the Minister chooses to do so. It is not a requirement for the Minister to do so. It does not put any restrictions on the Minister's authority. It is a new option for the Minister that, should the Intergovernmental Council come forward with a new model for co-drafting regulations, the Minister has a power in the law that will neatly fit into that agreement.
This could be in the act, Mr. Chair, and never be used, and it would not impact the operations of the act at all. However, I would hope that it would be used, because, again, this is something that the Minister has committed to work on and the government has committed to work on through the Intergovernmental Council, regardless of the disposition of any other motions raised today. We know that that is going to happen, and I think that what will emerge will be some sort of protocol, whether formal or informal. This allows that protocol to be clearly codified through the legislation, and I would expect we would see similar clauses like this in other resource bills that have been co-drafted.
This is, again, to respect the uniqueness of the co-drafting process, to respect the intentions of the Indigenous governments and the constitutionally-entrenched boards that have appeared before the committee and provided very clear indication that they still wanted to be part of this process. Some of what we have heard is that there were concerns in the co-drafting stage that they agreed that we would address later in regulation. During the co-drafting, the GNWT was very clear that not everything could be resolved today, but let's get the laws passed, and then we can work it out. That expectation is present. It is not a hypothetical. There have been very clear commitments. We heard today that the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has brought forward a terms of reference for regulation-making authority under the Mineral Resource Act.
Things are happening, but it is unclear how they are going to happen. We still don't have clear certainty on how this is going to work, and it is important that we know, because, again, these bills are too important in signalling a new relationship for government-to-government relationships, not just for us, but as a model for the entire country. I think that we need to do whatever we can to put these government-to-government features into law, to clearly identify the legal framework that the Intergovernmental Council partners and Indigenous governments who are working collaboratively with the GNWT can exercise their opportunities to build that stronger relationship. Again, this is solely permissive. This is to give the Minister an additional power to make that relationship a reality.
Again, if the Minister didn't want to use that, he doesn't have to. It is not compelling anything. All it is, is giving the Minister a new tool in the toolbox to ensure that the co-drafting of regulations, if it is chosen to be done, is clearly set up in the legislation, and I think that that is a much more reasonable compromise, again, than requiring a full-blown section 35 consultation on any regulation-making. That is not what is being proposed here. This is a permissive clause, it is a new power, and I am looking forward to hearing what the Minister has to say about it, but I don't see this as particularly problematic. I hope to hear what other Members have to think.
To be very clear, this is a permissive new feature for the Minister to use; it is not a restriction, and it has nothing to do with non-government organizations or outside-the-territory groups, before anyone raises that concern. Thank you, Mr. Chair.