SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Government of Canada will begin issuing a series of responses to the McCrank report this spring, says Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian and Northern Affairs.

Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, said last week the federal government will respond to the McCrank report – a federally-commissioned report with recommendations on how to improve the regulatory system in the NWT and Nunavut – this spring. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Strahl's announcement last week in Yellowknife marked the first indication from the feds that the July 2008 report – which recommended measures to improve the regulatory system in Nunavut and, more urgently, the NWT – will see government action.

"I think what people should look for this spring is a roll-out of a series of initiatives that deal with the issues raised by (the report)," said Strahl. "It involves everything from how fast legislation could be introduced or dealt with in the House of Commons.

"The response that people should anticipate will be tailored to each of the territories. They're all different, so that each have different needs and requirements and they're in different stages of devolution. It's certainly not a one-size-fits-all response."

The central tenet of the long-anticipated report, written by Neil McCrank, former chairman of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, was that the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board should be established as the only land and water board in the NWT.

Strahl said the negative investment climate in the NWT exploration sector – spurred by confusion over the regulatory process – underlines the importance of acting on McCrank's recommendations. In 2009, exploration companies spent $28.7 million in the NWT, compared to $147.7 million the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. More companies are instead eyeing Nunavut, where exploration fell last year, but to a smaller degree ($175.6 million from $432.6 million in 2008), Strahl said.

"Whether you're an exploration company or a development company, whether they're penny stocks or the big boys, they're all sending the same message: 'We're mobile; we can be anywhere,'" the minister said. "So if it turns out Nunavut is a better place to invest than than the NWT, we don't care. We'll go where the going is good.'

Mike Vaydik, general manager of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, said "there is a feeling of urgency now" about regulatory reform, exacerbated by the economic slowdown.

"People understand now the value of the jobs that new investment brings," he said.

According to Vaydik, at the recent Round Up 2010, a mining and exploration trade show held in Vancouver, "a lot of people said 'We have a good project. We had some good talk with the financiers – until they found out that the project is in the NWT.'

"They literally said: 'Call me when you get the regulations fixed,'" said Vaydik.

Strahl said the federal government will take action to make sure foreign investors are not put off by a tangled regulatory system.

"To win them back is a big job," said Strahl. "I saw that in my own province of British Columbia. A number of years ago ... the investment climate got so bad that they held conferences on mining, and the government of Chile came up and was the main presenter at the B.C. Chamber of Mines convention.

"People were saying there's no use talking locally; let's talk about other countries. And that's what we don't want here the in the NWT."