Yes, the department initially considered a purpose clause, but did not spend a lot of time on it. There are not any purpose clauses in equivalent legislation across the country, primarily because land administration legislation conveys legal interest in land, and purpose clauses that are very aspirational and broad in their nature can impact the interpretation of the legislation and can bring an ambiguity to the legal rights and interests that are being established under the act. Further to that, the Land Use and Sustainability Framework that was referred to is a GNWT-wide policy that was established, actually, pre-devolution.
The Department of Lands along with the GNWT departments have responsibilities to implement the Land Use and Sustainability Framework in all of its pieces of legislation and all of its programs and all of its functions. This bill is only one piece of that puzzle. I can say for the Department of Lands we have multiple pieces of legislation that we use to carry out our responsibilities. The Area Development Act is an example. We have delegated responsibilities under the MVRMA. This is just one piece of the much broader functions where we implement the Land Use and Sustainability Framework into our jobs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.