Notes for an Address by

Mary Quinn Acting Assistant Deputy Minister Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

to the

Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations

Ottawa, Ontario
December 7, 2006

Check against delivery

Thank you for this opportunity to appear before the Committee. The Minister's schedule does not permit him to attend this session, however he has authorized me to speak on behalf of the Department regarding the amendments to the Northwest Territories Reindeer Regulations. I am going to update the Committee on the issues involved, our plan to move forward, and how we will keep the Committee informed.

The Minister and the Department appreciate this Committee's continued attention to this matter and thank members for their patience. The amendment process has proven to be a much more complex and lengthy exercise than originally anticipated, but I want to stress that it has not affected the Department's ability to administer the Regulations. We also realize that Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has not kept this Committee apprised of key developments, and we will be correcting this lack of timely communication.

I am pleased to report that we are developing and implementing a sequenced plan to ensure that the Reindeer Regulations are amended as this Committee has requested, and furthermore, Committee members will be kept informed of progress on this issue on a regular basis.

To understand the current challenges associated with the Reindeer Regulations, we must first examine the issues that affected the amendment process some two years ago. At that time, the preparation of an Order in Council required by the amended NWT Reindeer Regulations to delineate the reindeer reserve, revealed discrepancies in the descriptions of private lands outlined in the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in Land Claim Agreements. Some of these discrepancies stem from inconsistencies between the French and English versions of the documents, which feature different descriptions of the boundaries of certain affected parcels of land.

As a result of these errors, we could not proceed with the Order in Council, and the amendment process came to a halt. Officials in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada undertook a preliminary review of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement to identify some of the discrepancies. This work represents the first crucial step in a sequenced, three-phase process to amend the Reindeer Regulations.

For example, there are a range of discrepancies; some are relatively simple and technical in nature, such as an inconsistency in map numbers, while others - particularly those that relate to boundary latitudes and longitudes - appear to be more significant. For example, in the Gwich'in Land Claims Agreement there is a difference of 6 degrees longitude between the English and French versions.

To clarify the scope of these discrepancies, we have enlisted the support of the Surveyor General for Canada. Staff in the Surveyor's office have begun to review the boundary descriptions of both agreements, comparing the English and the French, and will then advise us on the corrective measures that need to be taken. It is quite likely that resolving issues related to the boundary descriptions may require further negotiation with the affected landowners. INAC officials have already been in contact with Gwich'in and Inuvialuit representatives. In the final step in the first phase, we will develop a collaborative plan to resolve the discrepancies and complete the drafting of new amendments to the Reindeer Regulations.

The second phase involves completing consultations with all stakeholders, and ensuring that the draft amendments to the Reindeer Regulations take into account the recommendations of this committee, officials in the Department of Justice, the current regulatory regime of the Mackenzie Valley and Inuvialuit settlement regions and the views of the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in, along with owners of relevant lands and herds.

Once a draft Order in Council incorporates accurate descriptions of the reserve lands, the third and final phase will begin. During this phase, the regulations will be subject to normal approval processes involving the Department of Justice, Privy Council and Treasury Board. Finally, they will be published in the Canada Gazette.

At this preliminary stage, it is difficult to accurately predict the length of time it will take to complete the amendments, but I want to assure Committee members that INAC officials are vigorously pursuing this process.

Furthermore, to ensure that this Committee is kept apprised of developments on this issue, INAC officials are committed to report back to you in three months on our work with the boundary descriptions, and on a regular basis thereafter on the progress we have made.

Thank you. I will do my best to answer any questions Committee members may have.

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