New mining legislation for N.W.T. expected to come into force in 2027
Some long-awaited, and contentious, mining legislation is expected to come into effect in the N.W.T. in 2027.
The timeline of the Mineral Resources Act was presented during a public briefing of the territory's economic development and environment committee on Wednesday.
The presentation was delivered by Caitlin Cleveland, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, along with deputy minister Pamela Strand and assistant deputy minister Menzie McEachern.
McEachern talked of some the benefits that could come from the act, including more publicly-available technical information, increased transparency with the public registry, increased monitoring of production and increased access to exploration rights with online map staking.
"One of the key benefits is that there is increased opportunities for relationship-building and knowledge-sharing between mineral exploration and mining companies and Indigenous governments and organisations," he said.
"Historically, we know that information may not have been a focus in the industry, and local people often didn't know exactly what was happening on their traditional lands. Times, of course, have changed and information is being shared as we speak."
McEachern said that once the new regulations are in place, the sharing process will be formalized and information will be required to be shared throughout a mining project's life cycle.
Industry concerns
Following the presentation on Wednesday, MLAs had the chance to ask questions.
"As the minister knows, I've heard from constituents who are involved in the MRA [Mineral Resources Act] development process that the active mines that we have in the Northwest Territories would not be allowed under the revised MRA," said Kate Reid, MLA for Great Slave.
"So can the minister explain why this may be?"
Strand, the deputy minister, says the act is not designed to have a negative impact on current mining operations. She said the department is currently in the process of finding a way to smoothly transition from the old legislation to the new.
"The intention is that the currently operating mines are continuing to operate, on day one of the Mineral Resources Act coming into force. So there's a lot of misinformation, I think, circulating around," Strand said.
Cleveland said she has heard concerns from the industry on things like benefit agreements and royalties.
Benefit agreements are negotiated between mining companies and Indigenous governments or communities where those companies want to operate.
Burgundy Diamond Mines, the company that runs the Ekati mine, sent a letter to the N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson in the fall asking for a guarantee the government would grandfather in its pre-existing impact-benefit agreements, when it changes the act.
That would be instead of requiring new agreements which could force Burgundy to pay more to communities and Indigenous groups affected by the mine.
The Mineral Resources Act was actually passed in 2019 but regulations need to be developed before it could be implemented.
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