N.W.T. draft plan for protected areas has Chamber of Mines up in arms
Guy Quenneville | CBC News | Posted: September 16, 2015 1:23 PM | Last Updated: September 16, 2015
Draft target of 40% will damage territory's already struggling minerals industry, says chamber vice-president
The N.W.T. and Nunavut Chamber of Mines says it is "deeply concerned" with an "outrageous" suggestion from the N.W.T. government that as much as 40 per cent of land in the territory be set aside for conservation, but the government says that worry is premature.
"We appreciate their concerns. The document is stamped 'DRAFT,'" says Michael Miltenberger, minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Miltenberger's department circulated a draft plan on N.W.T. conservation areas earlier this month to environmental groups (the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Tides Canada), aboriginal groups, the chamber of mines and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
The plan proposes "a target of 40 per cent in conservation areas in the N.W.T."
Miltenberger says only half of that land would be shut off to companies; the other half, only potentially so.
"Up to 20 per cent would be other conservation designations, all of which would allow, potentially, some kind of...industrial development, if it was found appropriate and if [companies] found something worth developing."
Currently, just over nine per cent of N.W.T. land is completely off-limits to companies.
Miltenberger says the plan is just a draft, and may not be finalized until after the Nov. 23 territorial election. But the chamber of mines says the mere suggestion of significantly upping the amount of protected land "will seriously damage the N.W.T.'s already struggling minerals industry" and scare off investment.
"Essentially they're telling industry we're not open for business," says Gary Vivian, a vice-president with the chamber.
"Once something is put in writing or something gets put on a map, it's almost impossible to get that removed. It becomes ingrained in people's minds that that's the way things are going to be."
A 'biased' draft plan
The chamber says it was outnumbered by environmental groups and aboriginals groups during consultations leading to release of the draft plan. It's asking that the plan, which it says is "heavily biased towards conservation," be withdrawn.
"It's of great concern to the mining and oil gas industry that there isn't more of a planning process with all of the stakeholders. And I'm not saying people who are more geared toward the environment. I'm saying people who are more geared toward industry," says Vivian.
Miltenberger says the chamber has been involved in the conservation talks since 1999, and that nothing proposed in the plan should have come as a surprise. He says his department will meet privately with the chamber next week.
"It's an issue worthy of discussion," he said of the chamber's concerns.
Former chief says not enough time to comment
The department sent the draft plan to groups on Sept. 4, asking for feedback by Sept. 17, if possible.
The former chief of Fort Resolution, N.W.T., Robert Sayine, says that's another example of the territorial government not giving groups enough time to digest and comment on a complicated issue.
"This notice that they've sent out to communities — two, even three weeks and they want comments? It's not enough time," he says.
Though Akaitcho land surrounding Fort Resolution will remain frozen until the Akaitcho land claim is settled, Sayine says any talk of land use makes groups like Fort Resolution nervous.
"The land that we just talked about is not the only land we have an interest in. We have an interest in vast areas around our community for traditional purposes like hunting and fishing. The land that was withdrawn is a very small portion of our main interest as land users," he says.
"The land that we just talked about is not the only land we have an interest in. We have an interest in vast areas around our community for traditional purposes like hunting and fishing. The land that was withdrawn is a very small portion of our main interest as land users," he says.
A 2006 Environment Canada report ranked the N.W.T. fifth out of 13 provinces in terms of its percentage of protected land.
With the territorial government having taken a greater control of land since devolution, "the N.W.T. has a rare opportunity to be a leader in conservation," says the government's draft plan.
If that plan succeeds at keeping even 20 per cent of the N.W.T. off-limits to companies, it will be three per cent above the national target set by Canada in 2010.