What's in Place
The Environmental Rights Act is a territorial act that recognizes the right to protect the integrity, biological diversity and productivity of NWT ecosystems. The Statement of Environmental Values is a policy requirement created by a 2019 amendment to the act. This statement is intended to make sure the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) considers the rights of residents to a healthy environment whenever it decides on any action that could significantly affect lands, waters, air, or wildlife. However, there is no means of implementing or reporting on the implementation of the Statement.
The statement is supposed to balance current needs with those of future generations to ensure decision-makers consider the long-term sustainability and health of the environment.
The Environmental Rights Act sets out seven principles to guide government decision-making.
The Environmental Rights Act was amended in 2019, with a provision requiring the GNWT to develop and finalize a Statement of Environmental Values to guide decisions that could significantly impact the environment. This makes the Northwest Territories just the second jurisdiction in Canada to integrate a Statement of Environmental Values into its decision-making processes.
The Statement of Environmental Values must influence decisions made within all GNWT departments, as well as the NWT’s Business Development and Investment Corporation, the NWT Housing Corporation, the NWT Power Corporation, and Aurora College. These institutions must take every reasonable step to implement the principles outlined in the statement. However, there is no monitoring or reporting of implementation.
The GNWT released a draft Statement of Environmental Values in November 2021, giving the public 90 days to provide feedback. This public comment period closed February 15, 2022.
The government finalized and formally adopted the statement on June 7, 2022. It also released a ‘What We Heard’ report detailing the feedback it received from the public review and how this input was incorporated into the final Statement of Environmental Values.
If we want to take environmental protection seriously, is it time the Northwest Territories took steps to grant legal personhood to ecosystems, species, and culturally important or ecologically fragile natural places?
GNWT documents note the Statement of Environmental Values will be considered not only in decisions that may significantly harm the environment, but also in annual budgeting, program design and delivery, and business planning. How exactly will that happen in practice?
The Environmental Rights Act gives the government the ability to amend “from time to time” the Statement of Environmental Values. How will the government notify the public of its intention to make amendments? Will the public be able to provide input?