GOVERNANCE

Commitment 5.2.4 – We will pursue an agreement with the federal government on the management of offshore resources.

The Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement (s.3.20) requires Canada and the GNWT, with the participation of the IRC, to commence negotiations respecting the management of offshore resources in the Beaufort Sea, and other offshore areas as may be agreed. The Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs is responsible for leading the coordination of work required as negotiations respecting the management of offshore oil and gas resources in the NWT are undertaken.

Although several operators maintain exploration and Significant Discovery Licenses in the NWT, no exploration activity is currently taking place.

With currently low oil and gas prices, there are no plans for new industry activities in the near term.

The NWT Geological Survey, along with federal, provincial and territorial partners, continue to discover and assess enormous oil and gas deposits in the territory.

Related Mandate Commitments

• Commitment 5.2.1 – We will seek to establish a joint committee between Cabinet Ministers and Regular Members to share information and discuss approaches on the advancement of land, resource, and self-government agreements as well as initiatives to enhance relationships with Indigenous governments.
• Commitment 5.2.3 – We will work with Indigenous governments to jointly develop their human resource capacity, for example by finalizing and evaluating the existing pilot project with the Gwich’in Tribal Council.
• Commitment 5.2.5 – We will work to improve the NWT integrated resource management regime to ensure the regime reflects NWT interests and priorities.

For more information about this initiative, please contact the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.