Context
The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (or MVRMA) is one of the main pieces of legislation that guides how lands, waters, and natural resources are managed and regulated in the Northwest Territories. The MVRMA implements the environmental management regime that was negotiated in the lands and resources, and self-government agreements in the Gwich’in, Sahtu and Tlicho regions.
The MVRMA provides for an integrated environmental management system with land use planning, environmental assessment, land and water regulation and an environmental audit to track ecosystem health and how all the parts work together. It is difference by design and ensures that Indigenous governments and the public have a say in how our resources and environment are managed.
The MVRMA also enshrines the principle of co-management where public boards make decisions and recommendations in a more open and transparent fashion.
This federal act, along with three territorial acts (Waters Act, Northwest Territories Lands Act, and Commissioner’s Land Act) form an integrated co-management system in the NWT. (Once regulations for the Public Land Act are approved, it will replace and repeal the Northwest Territories Lands Act and Commissioner’s Land Act.)
The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act establishes a number of land and water boards in the Northwest Territories. These boards can issue, administer, amend, renew, and suspend land use permits and water licences in most of the Northwest Territories.
The MVRMA does not apply to the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The Inuvialuit’s land and water boards, and regulatory regime (Inuvialuit Water Board, Inuvialuit Land Administration and Inuvialuit Environmental Impact Review Board) exist outside of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.
The MVRMA, which came into force in 1998 and was last amended in 2019, created:
With representatives appointed to each board by the appropriate Indigenous government organization, the territorial government, and the federal government, the boards review and evaluate development proposals in their settlement areas or regions. These land and water boards originated in land rights and self-government agreements that Indigenous government organizations signed with the federal government and the boards were established by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.
These boards determine if developments will pose any potential impacts to the environment. If a board approves a licence or permit, it will typically come with a monitoring agreement, which will show what impacts the development is actually having on lands and waters. These subsequent impacts can result in a licence or permit being amended.
The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board regulates and makes development decisions on the traditional lands and waters of Indigenous government organizations without a land and resource or self-government agreement, with input and involvement from the Indigenous government organizations.
The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board also ensures the MVRMA is consistently applied by the Gwich’in, Sahtu, and Wek’èezhìi land and water boards.
Gwich’in and Sahtu Land Use Planning Boards
The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act also created Gwich’in and Sahtu land use planning boards. These public co-management boards allow Indigenous governments and others to develop and update their own land use plans, which guide the decisions of the various land and water boards. Land use plans define the types of activities allowed or prohibited on lands and waters. The Gwich’in and Sahtu land use plans are to be reviewed every five years.
Other Land Use Planning
There are also provisions in the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement for a land use planning process covering their management area but progress has been very slow. The Tłı̨chǫ government has already developed and approved a land use plan for its own lands.
The Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee is also in the process of developing a land use plan under an Interim Measures Agreement, outside of the MVRMA.
Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board
The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act also created the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. This board is tasked with carrying out fair and timely preliminary screenings, environmental assessments, and environmental impact reviews of development projects in the Northwest Territories. (The Inuvialuit have their own Environmental Impact Review Board, which exists outside of the MVRMA.)
