SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A roughly-200-page omnibus bill to implement devolution and overhaul the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA) - replacing regional management boards with a single 11-member super board - was introduced in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Minister Bernard Valcourt, left, and Premier Bob McLeod were together in Ottawa Dec. 3, the day Bill C-15, the Northwest Territories Devolution Act, was introduced in Parliament. - photo courtesy of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Months ago, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington worried the Conservative government would lump devolution implementation in with the more contentious changes to the management act.

When he spoke with Yellowknifer yesterday, Bevington said he was disappointed with the legislation, but believed there was little to be done to prevent this bill from being pushed through by the majority government.

"We can't lose sight about what's happening to us," he said.

"This changes the way our territory will develop. It moves it from a model that had a stronger emphasis on regional bodies to one in which all of the bodies are going to be central. I think that flies in the face of what people have been trying to do in the last 30 years with land claims."

Aside from the deletion of the regional land and water boards under the MVRMA, Bill C-15 seeks to place time limits for environmental assessments and reviews and give the federal minister more power to provide policy direction to the board.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins told Yellowknifer he is happy with the level of certainty time limits will give to industry, but said he believes the blame for past delays for regulatory approval rests squarely on the shoulders of the federal government.

"Every issue I've seen with these boards is always related to money, the appointment of members or the signing off of decisions. This is always the problem of the federal government, not the review boards themselves," he said.

Premier Bob McLeod said he supports the changes the Bill will bring to the regulatory system.

"Our position has always been that we want an effective, efficient regulatory framework and we've worked very hard to improve our working relationship with the aboriginal governments," he told Yellowknifer from Ottawa yesterday.

For the premier, Bill C-15 is about devolution, period.

"The way we see it is devolution will transform the economy of the Northwest Territories. Devolution will provide for increased jobs and opportunities for the Northwest Territories," he said.

Bevington also supports the devolution portion of the bill. He said he is pleased with the level of control over lands being transferred to the GNWT and that the territory is now poised to take over environmental protection.

"Those are growing-up steps that we need to take," he said.

To prepare for devolution, which is still expected to take effect on April 1, the GNWT is working to mirror 27 federal acts, including the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, the Canada Petroleum Resources Act, the Northwest Territories Waters Act, the Territorial Lands Act and the Northwest Territories Surface Rights Board Act, which was updated by the federal government last year. The GNWT is on track to have its side of the work done, said McLeod.

Whether the federal government will be able to implement its bill on time for the April 1 deadline will become more clear within the next week, as Bill C-15 is debated in Parliament and works its way through a parliamentary and a senate committee.

McLeod is in Ottawa this week to lobby on behalf of devolution, and met with Bernard Valcourt, minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and all other party leaders to that end.

The new Bill was not available by press time, but debate on Bill C-15, the Northwest Territories Devolution Act, is expected to begin today in Ottawa.

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