Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In regards to this motion, you know, the last few days I have been speaking about treaty rights and Crown consultation and accommodations. And I just want to let people know that, you know, when we -- First Nation communities in my particular riding, we don't have settled claims. We rely on core funding that comes in from Ottawa directly to our First Nation based on population. And we also rely on the resources we get from the mining industry to offset some of these costs. And I keep saying that we signed an oath, and we swore an oath too as well, to respect the treaties that we have. And we have a Commissioner. You know, we have a Governor General of Canada. Again, you know, a good portion of the monies that come from Ottawa to this government come from grants and contributions from various departments. But at the end of the day, you know, if we're going to be doing this, this work here, again, you know, we need to engage Indigenous governments. We're going to have to make sure Crown consultation and accommodations are met. And if that doesn't happen, then, you know, we could find ourselves in a very awkward position, maybe even in litigation, because, again, we do have treaty rights and, you know, Government of Canada is supposed to uphold it and the GNWT is also viewed as a -- the Crown as well, and that's the case, then they really need to take a look at this and provide adequate resources needed to Indigenous governments to really go through this whole thing. What I'm saying by that is that, you know, we got to fund the communities, the chief and council, the elders, expertise as needed,to review such documents as these. They just don't have the resources. So all I'm saying in speaking to the motion, Madam Chair, I think that should be looked at as well. Thank you.

Thank you. To the motion. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, yes, what I would like to see in this is that more consultation with the Indigenous government as well. Not only with the public government but with the Indigenous government, especially those with the Aboriginal self-government that they have in place. So I would like to see more of that in this because this is important, especially with -- to lands and resources. So I know that this is important for the people who settled their land claims already. And it's just that I would like to see this -- the co-drafting be done with the Indigenous government, not just with the public government because GNWT is a public government and community government of Behchoko, Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti are all public government as well. So it should be done with the Indigenous government. Thank you.

To the motion.

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

---Carried

Member for Deh Cho.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that departments undertaking the co-drafting of resource management legislation and regulations should share more information with the public about policy options and policy intentions and conduct public engagement earlier in the process, that is, not wait until the end of the co-drafting process; and further, public engagement can and should run concurrently with the co-drafting process. Mahsi.

The motion is in order. To the motion.

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

---Carried

Member for Deh Cho.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Environment and Climate Change prepare a detailed budget and work plan for continued co-development of regulations necessary for a new Forest Act allowing for more public engagement on those regulations and the implementation of its new responsibilities under a new Forest Act. Mahsi.

The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I want to speak to this one. I want to speak to the resources that this government actually got for forest management. The responsibility was, of course, originally held by the federal government and back in 1987, there was a devolution agreement for forestry negotiated. And this government, at that point, received an indexed offset to the territorial formula funding arrangement of $24 million. And so that was indexed over time. We asked the department about what that would actually be these days. We were told that it's about $55 million in today's dollars. So that's money that was given to this government for the purposes of carrying out forestry activities, including fire suppression.

Now, you know, in a normal year -- and this is not a normal year -- the department spends about $35 million a year on forestry. That includes fire suppression and management. So there seems to be a gap there where maybe all the money that GNWT was getting for forestry is perhaps not actually being spent on it in a normal regular year. And the reason why I raise this is this new legislation creates some very significant new tools and responsibilities on our government when it comes to sustainable forestry. There's going to be forest eco -- there should be forest ecosystem management plans. There could be forest harvesting agreements. There's supposed to be forest monitoring. And a lot of this is going to be ecosystem-based management. Working collaboratively with Indigenous governments and co-management bodies. That's a lot of new responsibilities on this government, and this government needs to have the resources to do that.

Why is this important? If we want forestry to take off here and begin to replace wood that's imported, we need to be able to identify where people can do the harvesting and ensure that the research and monitoring that can support those economic opportunities are made available. And I guess I'm not convinced that we do enough of that work right now. But the ability and tools to do that are going to increase exponentially with a passing of this legislation. So our government has to be ready for that. And we need to be spending more money on forestry, on forest research, on inventory work to identify those opportunities so we can create jobs in the forest sector to replace the wood that we import, as much of that as we possibly can. That's why this is important because it can create jobs here. We want to make sure it's done sustainably.

But the department has to get a budget together to do that. You cannot do it with the current budget; it's not going to work. So I'm trying to make a case for the next Minister to get that work done and put forward a proper budget to make sure that we have sustainable forestry and the jobs that it can create in small communities. And that's what this is aimed at, but also making sure that while we develop those regulations -- and there's a lot more work to be done to develop those regulations -- that that work can be done collaboratively with Indigenous governments and that there's a better public engagement as well. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you. To the motion.

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

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that you've concluded consideration of Committee Report 62-19(2)?

Thank you. Committee, we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 62-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 74: Forest act. Committee, we've agreed to consider Bill 74, Forest Act. I'll ask the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Bill 74, Forest Act. It is also important to recognize that we are discussing forestry legislation at a time when people, our people, communities and our forests, have been significantly impacted by wildfires.

Bill 74 is the first bill drafted under the Intergovernmental council Protocol on Legislation Development and the first introduced under the Legislative Assembly's new process convention on bills drafted in accordance with this protocol.

Bill 74 is an important milestone for all of us, and I thank everybody - the Indigenous governments, standing committee, and all Members of of this House - for their work on this bill. The Department of Environment and Climate Change worked closely with Indigenous governments of the Intergovernmental council through a technical working group to develop Bill 74. Along with the Intergovernmental council Members, participation in the technical working group also included Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, North Slave Metis Alliance, Yellowknife Dene First Nation, Nahanni Butte Dene Band, and Deh Cho First Nation.

The bill is the result of hard work of many people and organizations and reflects consensus of the party under the Intergovernmental council Protocol.

Bill 74 combines and modernizes the Forest Management Act and Forest Protection Act. It will allow the GNWT and its partners to use the most current tools to effectively manage forest resources in the NWT.

Bill 74 is designed to provide for flexibility, to account for variations between regions of local needs. Special needs for many parts of the bill will be further defined in regulation development. New tools established under Bill 74 include

• Forest ecosystem management plan;
• Provisions required to allow the GNWT to effectively manage wildfires;
• The ability to take immediate actions against invasive species and diseases that could seriously harm to the forest;
• Removing the requirements for a permit for anyone with an Aboriginal treaty right to harvest forest resources in an applicable area;
• Modernize the appeal process; and,
• Update enforcement and investigation authorities.

I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for its review of this bill.22 motions of the bill were approved and integrated. This shows the great collaboration between the committee and Intergovernmental council technical working group. That concludes my opening remarks, and I look forward to answering any questions that Members may have. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, I would.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Welcome. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right is Dr. Erin Kelly, deputy minister of environment and climate change. And Brett Wheler, a representative of the Intergovernmental Council invited under the Legislative Assembly process convention on bills drafted pursuant to the Intergovernmental Council Legislative Development Protocol. Behind me, on my left, is Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice. And on my right is Melissa Bard, manager of legislation from the Department of Environment and Climate Change. Thank you, Madam Chair.