What's in Place
The Public Land Act, passed in August 2019 but not yet in force. It is a territorial act that defines the rules for owning or using public lands in the Northwest Territories.
The Public Land Act is a territorial act that defines the rules for owning or using public lands in the Northwest Territories. The act does not apply to privately-owned land or land owned by Indigenous governments. Public land refers to both surface and subsurface lands. (Subsurface means the minerals and substances below the surface.)
The Public Land Act gives the Minister of Environment and Climate Change the power to withdraw public land from certain uses to preserve the ecological balance of the NWT.
The Public Land Act received assent in August 2019, but will only come into force once its regulations have been approved. These extensive sets of regulations will detail the amounts (and forms) of security deposits required of commercial and industrial land users and could include the pricing and leasing of public land.
The regulations will determine whether mining or oil and gas companies, for instance, must provide financial securities to the GNWT to use public lands. Under the current Northwest Territories Lands Act, decisions about financial security requirements, the quality of closure and clean-up plans, and enforcement actions, all fall under the discretion of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
The Public Land Act combined two territorial acts (the Commissioner’s Land Act, which governed GNWT lands in or around communities, and the Northwest Territories Lands Act, which governed federal lands within the NWT) and now covers all public land in the NWT.
The Public Land Act received assent on August 21, 2019, but will not come into force until its regulations are approved by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and/or by Cabinet. When it comes into force, the act will repeal and replace both the Commissioner’s Land Act and the Northwest Territories Lands Act.
The GNWT is approaching the Public Land Act regulations in two phases. Phase 1, now underway, is intended to bring the Public Land Act into force. To date, the GNWT has proposed six sets of regulations: public land regulations, public land security and restoration regulations, public land use regulations, public land development controls regulations, public land administration regulations, and public land quarry regulations but none have been made public.
Phase 2 will begin after Phase 1 is completed and cover any shortcomings of Phase 1 regulations, as well as any new land-related responsibilities the GNWT takes on from the federal government.
The Department of Justice is currently drafting Public Land Act regulations with Indigenous government organizations. The GNWT has also sought feedback from industry and the public, and released feedback from this engagement in April 2021. The department is incorporating this feedback into its next draft of proposed regulations, which the GNWT expects to be open to feedback in early 2023.
The GNWT had initially set a target date of March 2023 for the approval of Phase 1 regulations and the Public Land Act coming into force. The GNWT has also formed a technical advisory group to encourage public participation in the drafting of Phase 1 regulations but the group has not started its work.
Public Land Act regulations will determine what types of financial securities are required of companies and how much they must pay to guarantee lands are cleaned up once operations close. What’s the best way to ensure the polluter pays?
Should financial securities and closure and reclamation plans be mandatory or at the discretion of the Minister? Should security payment information be available to the public and reported annually?
When public land is granted to a company, how can the act be implemented in a way that involves the public so NWT residents are able to determine the risks or benefits of an operation or development?