Mr. Chair, first, I assure my colleague that the legislation ensures that any delegation will be consistent with existing land claims and self-government agreements. Moreover, the federal minister must provide written notification to first nations for any proposed delegation of authority.
It is also important to note that the Umbrella Final Agreement permits delegation, specifically section 12.19.2.15, which clarifies that development assessment legislation may provide for “any other matter required to implement the development assessment process”. It is our government's view that delegating federal powers to the territory is consistent with the provisions of the Umbrella Final Agreement.
More broadly speaking, it is also our government's view that delegating powers to the territorial governments is aligned with our northern strategy and with our objective to delegate or devolve federal responsibilities to where they belong, which is in the territories.