Delay Dehcho Plan, Says PDAC

COMMENTARY

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, along with the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, has raised concerns with the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs about a land use plan that covers a vast area of the Northwest Territories.

Leaders of the three associations have criticized the draft Dehcho Land Use Plan and the way in which it was put together and asked that finalization and adoption of the plan be delayed for one year. To date, they have met with little success.

The most recent draft of the land use plan was submitted to the Dehcho First Nation, the Northwest Territories government and the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs earlier this year.

The Dehcho territory covers roughly 215 sq. km of the Northwest Territories. The land use plan is being developed for all the land beyond existing community boundaries and the Nahanni National Park Reserve. Among other things, the industry is protesting the minimal mineral assessment carried out during the planning process, and the fact that the Dehcho have not been adequately informed about the economic benefits that the exploration and mining industries can bring to their communities.

The industry is also worried that, once approved, the plan will be legally binding, changes will be difficult to make and any mineral licence or permit application that does not conform to the plan would be rejected.

The industry would like adoption delayed so that a full mineral resource assessment of the area can be completed and additional community information sessions carried out.

These sessions would inform the Dehcho about the potential benefits of developing mineral resources, including long-term employment, skills training, business ownership and equity sharing. Estimates put the unemployment rate in the Dehcho First Nation at 20%.

In March, the PDAC, MAC and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines wrote to minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Jim Prentice, recommending that existing deadlines for acceptance of the land use plan be set aside.

In May, the minister responded, saying he could not support this.

He said that the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee had put significant resources toward evaluating the mineral potential of the region. He added, “it is unfortunate that your organizations were not able to engage more extensively in the committee’s three-year plan development and consultation process.”

PDAC president Patricia Dillon wrote back, expressing shock at his response.

“Significant resources, by any comprehensive research or industry standards, have not been allocated to evaluating the mineral potential of the Dehcho Territory,” she wrote.

The Land Use Planning Committee drew conclusions based on a regional mineral potential map that provides “a very sketchy and incomplete assessment” of the region, she added.

Dillon pointed out that industry had been providing feedback to the Land Use Planning Committee for years.

“Suggestions for the most part, have been neither welcomed nor incorporated into the plan,” she wrote.

— This is an edited excerpt from In Brief, a quarterly publication of the Toronto-based Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.