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7TuesdayApril152014WHATTAKEAFREETEST-DRIVEANDFORDOFCANADAWILLDONATEUPTO6000TOYOURSCHOOL.Themorepeoplewhodrivethemoreyoullearnforyourschool.Youdothemath.WHEREWHENFortSmithRecreationandCommunityCentreMay32014GoFurtherNOPURCHASENECESSARY.Mustbe18yearsofageorolderwithavaliddriverslicense.Donationof20pervalidtestdriveupto300totaltestdrivesforamaximumtotaldonationsof6000perevent.Limitonedonationperhousehold.NWTtoseemoremininginvestorswithdevolutionAboriginalandpublicconcernmustbeaddressedChamberofMinesByMARIACHURCHAdvocatesforminingandindustryintheNorthsaytheyareoptimisticthetransferofresourcecontroltotheGNWTwillmeanmoremineralinvest-mentintheterritorywhichhaslanguisheditsresourcepotentialforyears.TheexecutivedirectorsforboththeNWTandNunavutChamberofMinesandtheNWTChamberofCommerceagreedtheApr.1signingofdevolutionrepresentsthegreat-eststepforwardforthemin-ingindustryintheterritoryandwillbringaboutaseriesofpositivechanges.OurmineralpotentialisjustasgoodhereasitisinNunavutorYukonevenbet-ter...butbecauseofourregu-latorycomplexitiesandlandclaimsuncertaintyitschasedawayallthatmoneysowevelostopportunitiesforjobsandbusiness.WenowhavetogetitbackTomHoeferexecu-tivedirectoroftheChamberofMinestoldTheJournal.HoefermetwiththeNWTChamberofCommercelastweektosharehisthoughtsonthechangesthatdevolu-tionwillbringtotheterritorywhichhesayscomesatatimewhentheminingindustryisfacinguncertaintyandalackofinvestmentonaglobalscale.Weregoingtohavetoworkreallyhardnowtocon-vinceinvestorsbecausewevehadsuchalongstringofyearsofuncertaintythattheyaregoingtohavetoseeadem-onstrationofproofthatthingsaredifferentherehesaid.AddressingregulatoryuncertaintyAccordingtoHoefermin-inginvestmentintheNWThasbeenlaggingbehindotherterritoriesmainlybe-causeofregulatoryuncer-taintythebiggestofwhichincludedtheabsenceoftimelimitsonenvironmentalassessments.Facingaprecedentofuptoeightyearsforanenvi-ronmentalassessmentmanycompaniesdismissedtheNWTandchosetoinvestelsewherehesaid.SweptinondevolutionsomnibusBillC-15werechangestotheMackenzieValleyResourceManage-mentActthatwillseeamandatorytwo-yeardead-lineforenvironmentalassessments.Thatdoesntmeanthatitslessrigorouswhatitmeansistheboardsaregoingtohavetohavetheca-pacitynowinotherwordsthestaffandtheabilitytodothatworkintwoyearsHoefersaid.StillworktobedoneAccordingtoHoeferthereareanumberofconcernsyetunresolvedintheNWTthatpresenthurdlestominingcom-paniesnottheleastofwhichisclaricationontheextentofAboriginalconsultation.HoefersaidAboriginalconsultationrightsarestillagreyareaandhaveonlybeendenedthroughcourtcasesbetweenAboriginalgovern-mentsandthefederalgov-ernment.Nowthatthedutytoconsultlieswiththeterritorialgovernmentrulesneedtobeestablishedhesaid.Westilldonthaveclarity.Wenowhavetowaitforregu-lationstobedevelopedwhichisgoingtotakewhoknowshowlongHoefersaid.MikeBradshawexecutivedirectorwiththeNWTCham-berofCommercesaidanotherconcernisclaricationonwhatindustryprojectscanbehaltedbasedonpublicconcern.Wearenotsayingthattherearentanyprojectsofpublicconcernbutwhenyouhavenodenitionofwhatthatmeansevenifyourin-terventionisoflittlemeritassoonasyouindicatethatyoubelieveitsaprojectofpublicconcernthenthewheelsgrindtoahalt.Thatjustdoesntmakeanysense.Therehastobesomecrite-riahesaid.AccordingtoIndustryTourismandInvestmentMinisterDavidRamsaytheGNWTwillbelookingtoaddressbothconcernsinthefutureasitsettlesintoitsnewroleasresourcelandlord.Welllookatlegislativechangespolicychangesregulationsthewholenineyards.Thatwillcomeintime.Weveonlyhadthesenewauthoritiesfor11daysandwewanttohavetheabilitytogrowintoournewskinalittlebithesaid.IntheterritorialbudgetreleasedinFebruarytheGNWTallo-cated3milliontosupporttheimplementationofboththeEco-nomicOpportunitiesStrategyandMineralDevelopmentStrat-egyincludingfundingtopromoteminingintheNWT655000geoscienceinformationandresearch200000attractingmineralinvestmentthroughmarketing400000NWTminingincentiveprogramaimedatattractingmineralexplorationPhotoBillBradenNWTChamberofCommerceGNWTindustrychangerelationshipstatusByMEAGANWOHLBERGTheNWTgovernmentandbusinesscommunitysrela-tionshipstatushasswitchedtoitscomplicatednowthatthegovernmentisresponsiblefornotonlypromotionofindus-trybutregulationaccordingtothepremier.PremierBobMcLeodbriefedmembersofthebusinesscom-munitylastWednesdayeveningduringtheNWTChamberofCommercesannualgeneralmeetinginYellowknifeonthefutureofdecisionmakingintheterritorynowthatdevolu-tionhasoccurred.StickingwithhismantraofdevolvethenevolveMcLeodsaidthechangeinrelationshipwouldbeaworkinprogressbutunavoidablenonetheless.Oneofthethingsweandyouwillhavetolearnishowtomanagetherelationshipbe-tweengovernmentandindus-tryhetoldtheaudience.FormanyyearsthegovernmentoftheNorthwestTerritorieshasbeenanactiveandvisiblepromoterofdevelopmentinourterritory.Thathasoftenincludedlendingourvoicesinsupportofparticularproj-ectsthatwebelievedtobeofpotentialbenettotheterritoryanditspeople.Thatwasanappropriateroleforagovernmentthatdidnotcarrytheresponsibilityofdecisionmakingandregula-toryauthority.Withdevolu-tionourresponsibilitieshavechangedandsohasourdutytothepeopleoftheNorthwestTerritories.Asdecisionmak-erswearenowthestewardsofthelandanditsresourcescalledupontoupholdthepub-licinterestinthedevelopmentdecisionswewillbemaking.McLeodsaidthegovern-mentwillhavetorespectthatnewroleandensurethepub-lichascondencethatitsde-cisionsarefairandunbiasedwhichcouldmeanchangestothewayindustryandtheGNWTworktogether.Wecontinuetosupportresponsiblebalanceddevel-opmentheassured.Weun-derstandthatresourcedevel-opmentwillcontinuetobeamajorcomponentofourGDPandwewillcontinuetosup-portandencourageitandallsectorsofoureconomy.TheNWTChamberhasbeenaproponentofdevolutionfromtheoutsetclaimingthetransferalongwithchangestothereg-ulatorysystemwouldbringmoreeconomicopportunitiestotheterritory.ThedevolutionofcontroloverlandsandresourcestothegovernmentoftheNorthwestTerritorieshasbeenalongtimecomingbuthasthepotentialtohaveatransformativeeffectontheterritorialeconomystatedarecentpressreleasefromChamberexecutivedi-rectorMikeBradshaw.WeunderstandthatresourcedevelopmentwillcontinuetobeamajorcomponentofourGDPandwewillcontinuetosupportandencourageit.NWTPremierBobMcLeodPoliticsDevolutionIndustryMiningGNWTearmarksfundsforminingTomHoeferexecutivedirectoroftheNWTandNunavutChamberofMinesaddressestheNWTChamberofCommerceontheeffectdevolutionpresentstominingduringitsannualgeneralmeetinglastweek.