Inuvik residents were seeking information and voicing opinions on a proposed new Mineral Resources Act Sept. 6, with some wanting to ensure Indigenous people and the environment are accounted for in the legislation.
SA国际影视传媒淵ou don't see a lot of Northerners as prospectors,SA国际影视传媒� said resident Shannon O'Hara, who was at the public engagement session the GNWT hosted at the Midnight Sun Complex. SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of the prospecting comes from the south or from other places in the world.SA国际影视传媒�
She wanted to know what regulations might be introduced to benefit Indigenous people getting involved in the mining sector not just as mine workers, but as mine holders.
SA国际影视传媒淚 know the college sometimes offers a mining program, but I don't think that's the level of education that the region needs,SA国际影视传媒� said O'Hara. SA国际影视传媒�(It's) trying to teach people how to become a worker in the mines that exist already, not to develop their own.SA国际影视传媒�
She added she was curious what barriers might be keeping Indigenous people from getting more involved.
Gerald Inglangasuk, who also attended the meeting, said he wanted to know how a new Mineral Resources Act would deal with the environment and address relationships with Indigenous people who own the land.
SA国际影视传媒淲e don't want Yellowknife to happen again SA国际影视传媒� all that arsenic,SA国际影视传媒� he said, referring to the city's former gold mines. SA国际影视传媒淚t shouldn't happen. If we have an act, it should protect us.SA国际影视传媒�
The public engagement session in Inuvik is one of several stops GNWT staff are making in communities across the territory.
Their goal is to gather feedback for what could become the territory's first homegrown mineral legislation.
Currently, the NWT's mineral regulations reflect rules passed down from the federal government during devolution in 2014.
A new act would govern mineral rights for exploration and mining, benefits to residents, reporting on mineral types and locations and rules for staking and maintaining claims, according to the GNWT's website.
While it would replace current mining regulations, it would not impact other laws and regulations around the industry, land claims or self-government agreements.
SA国际影视传媒淚t can get fairly complex,SA国际影视传媒� said Pamela Strand, assistant deputy minister of mineral and petroleum resources with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. SA国际影视传媒淏ut we're trying to ask questions we think will provide people the opportunity to think about what's important to them.SA国际影视传媒�
The GNWT is looking to understand residents' experience with prospecting and exploration in their community, how the land should be best managed in the new act and how mining can benefit residents, she said.
SA国际影视传媒淛ust because it's traditionally oil and gas in the Mackenzie Delta SA国际影视传媒� doesn't mean there isn't mineral potential here,SA国际影视传媒� said Strand. SA国际影视传媒淲e have rocks, and rocks with mineral potential right across the territory, including the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.SA国际影视传媒�
Once the public engagement sessions wrap up, the GNWT will compile a report on the feedback they've gathered from residents.
The last one was scheduled to take place in Fort Smith on Sept. 12.
Eighteen people attended the information session in Inuvik, according to Mike Westwick, communications officer with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
