RECOMMENDATION

His Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled ``An Act to provide for an integrated system of land and water management in the Mackenzie Valley, to establish certain boards for that purpose and to make consequential amendments to other Acts''.

SUMMARY

This enactment implements obligations under land claims agreements between Her Majesty the Queen and the Gwich'in and the Sahtu Dene and Metis, respectively. The Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was signed April 22, 1992 and the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was signed September 6, 1993.

The enactment creates an integrated co-management regime for land and waters in the Mackenzie Valley.

The enactment establishes a five-member Land Use Planning Board in each of Gwich'in and Sahtu settlement areas, a Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board consisting - subject to the creation of additional regional panels - of seventeen members, which includes a five-member permanent regional panel in each of the Gwich'in and Sahtu settlement areas, and an eleven-member Environmental Impact Review Board for the entire Mackenzie Valley.

The enactment provides for the making of regulations governing land use, prescribing lists of developments that are to be included or excluded from the examination of environmental impacts, and respecting cumulative impact monitoring and audits.

The Land Use Planning Boards are given the power to develop land use plans and to ensure that future use of lands is carried out in conformity with those plans. The Land and Water Board and its panels are given the power to regulate the use of land and water, including the issuance of land use permits and water licences. The Environmental Impact Review Board is the main instrument in the Mackenzie Valley for the examination of the environmental impact of proposed developments, including by means of public reviews.