The federal, territorial, Indigenous and community governments all have legislation, regulations and policies that relate to the environment and the ability of the public to participate in resource management. Co-management bodies also play an important role in making resource management decisions and have their own processes and policies for gathering information and public participation. This section will summarize some of what is already out there.
Since the Devolution Agreement between the GNWT and Canada came into effect in April 2014, public lands, waters, and natural resources are increasingly co-managed.
This Agreement and the subsequent Legislative Development Protocol set out how Indigenous governments will be involved in the development of new and amended environmental and resource management legislation and regulations. A co-management approach to resource management is required in the land and resources and self-government agreements negotiated to date with Indigenous governments. This approach is generally incorporated into three pieces of territorial legislation (Waters Act, Northwest Territories Lands Act, and Commissioner’s Land Act which are set to be replaced by the Public Land Act when it is brought into force) and one piece of federal legislation (Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act).
There are a number of pieces of legislation under review at the moment, including regulations and various policies related to the environment and resource management. Any changes made to this legislation will have a direct impact on the health of the NWT’s environment for this and future generations. The public can and should have a role in developing these laws, regulations and policies.
But a number of established agreements, acts, policies, reports, and plans also guide and influence the direction, tone, and content of new legislation.
The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA) established land, water, and land-use planning boards in the Gwich’in, Sahtu and Tłı̨chǫ regions. The product of each Indigenous government organization’s land rights agreements, these boards guarantee their participation in land use and resource development decisions within their settlement areas or regions.
The MVRMA also created the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board to regulate land and water use for the Deh Cho region, South Slave region and parts of the North Slave region, where land rights and self-government negotiations are ongoing.
The Inuvialuit have their own regulatory regime (Inuvialuit Water Board, Inuvialuit Land Administration, Inuvialuit Environmental Screening Committee and Inuvialuit Environmental Impact Review Board), outside of the MVRMA, pursuant to the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
Any new legislation or regulations in the Northwest Territories must respect the co-management authorities outlined in the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. It must also respect Aboriginal rights enshrined in Section 35 of the Constitution, the signed land rights agreements (Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu, Tłı̨chǫ), as well as the rights of Treaty 8 and 11 signatories.
The Délı̨nę Got’ine Government and the Tłı̨chǫ Government also have legislative authority over community lands under their respective self-government agreements. The scope of their legislative authority over community lands varies between agreements and is akin to authority of a municipal nature, including management and protection of property and lands; local transportation; and land use planning.
National and International influences
In recent years, the GNWT has pledged to incorporate into its new legislation the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These documents call on governments to provide Indigenous peoples with “free, prior and informed consent” before any activity is considered on their traditional lands.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), founded in 1948, is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Territorial plans and policies
Legislation devoted to conservation planning in the Northwest Territories is influenced by territorial policies and work plans, such as Healthy Land, Healthy People—a GNWT guide for conservation planning.
GNWT is also responsible for wildlife management along with Renewable Resource Boards in most parts of the NWT. Some species, such as caribou are managed on a herd-by-herd basis.
The GNWT also takes into consideration its Statement of Environmental Values and Traditional Knowledge Policy for all environmental management actions and decisions.
Find out how the following agreements, acts, policies, reports, and plans influence the development of Northern legislation.
