This proposal appears to be…

This proposal appears to be another attempt by the Provincial Government to strip the EAA of the many requirements that have been it place for years. To state that the requirements for public consultation and participation are covered by other agencies is a load of crap.

The settlement of the land claims is very important but also are the needs of the tax paying public to be heard and to participate on a level and unbiased playing field. During the recent Wiki Land Claim process the process failed the Public tragically. We were ignored , not included in the process, passed off to 4-5 different staff personnel. One staff person still had a voicemail account 6 months after he retired.

Now the Government is stating that the process is redundant, time consuming , repetitive, etc. etc. We have waited almost 10 months for a response to our Part 2 Order request. It would appear that if there is a concern, the answer may be with the Ministry's attempt to make an omelet without breaking a couple of eggs.

In the proposed changes is the following statement " These types of projects or activities related to land claim settlements typically do not impact the current use of a property and have low impact on the environment." This is statement is absolutely incorrect with respect to the Wiki Land Claim. One of the proposed settlement options directly states that access to certain lands would be impacted and that lands now available to everyone would become controlled by First Nations. The public would need permission from first Nations to access these Lands. The impact would be great and the current use would be greatly changed.

Also to state that these changes would have low impact on the environment is just not factually correct. We have tried to get information on what possible uses could be made of the proposed lands. The ESR clearly indicates that if the First Nations are awarded the Lands that they would decide what Land Uses would be in place. Can the Government ensure that if these Lands are surrendered that there will be no wind farms, casinos, gas stations, donut shops, campgrounds, smoke shops, etc. etc. Also that the surrounding environment (land, water, air) will be protected? In one case lands have been offered in the Settlement that have no documented traditional ties. Initially lands were offered that are on a recreational lake, this proposal was withdrawn but it shows the complete lack of understanding, consultation and planning by the Government. To now suggest that we should reduce these requirements is very difficult to understand.

To suggest that additional consultation is not necessary under the EAA shows just how much the Government has weakened the EAA. What need is there for an EAA and a public consultation process that has the gutted and stripped of any compliance role?

If this proposal were to be accepted , what would be the status of the existing Part 2 Order Requests that have been filed but not acted upon? Would they become redundant, dismissed, ignored, etc. I asked this question to Ministry staff and they were not prepared to respond at this time.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide my viewpoints.