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NUNAVUT
Proposed legislation to streamline the territory's regulatory process and fulfill another requirement of the land claims agreement was introduced in the House of Commons last week.

Introduced in Parliament on Nov. 6 by John Duncan, minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, the Northern Jobs and Growth Act aims to fulfill federal government obligations under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The proposed legislation includes the Nunavut Planning and Project Assessment Act and is intended to streamline the regulatory process for natural resource development.

For the Nunavut Impact Review Board, the proposed legislation is a positive step forward, said Ryan Barry, executive director of the Nunavut Impact Review Board. He said the proposed legislation better defines some of the review board's roles and establishes new timelines for government to respond to NIRB recommendations.

"In the current legislative proposal, there are new timelines the minister would be subject to. So that's one good aspect of the legislation," said Barry.

Other proposed changes include maintaining a public registry as well as what information and what environmental impact statement guidelines it needs to contain, he added.

"For us, they are almost all really just currently our best practices so that we currently have a public registry, it currently contains the things it's supposed to contain," said Barry. "There's not really a practical change how we operate day to day but it does make it clear those are requirements we need to do."

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency's Northern projects management office will support the proposed changes to the regulatory process, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq stated in a Nov. 6 press release.

"These changes will help create a more stable investment climate in the North by increasing the predictability and efficiency of the review process for major northern projects."

The proposed bill will translate in clearer decision-making related to land and resource management, Premier Eva Aariak stated in a press release.

"This is an important milestone in establishing an effective and streamlined regime for Inuit and government to manage resource development in Nunavut together."

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