Canada signs 'historic' deal with Inuvialuit, N.W.T., Yukon gov'ts over offshore oil and gas
CBC
A new deal has been signed — billed as the first of its kind in Canada — that's meant to give Northerners more of a say in any offshore oil and gas development in the western Arctic.
Dan Vandal, Canada's minister of Northern Affairs, was in Inuvik, N.W.T., on Thursday to sign the deal, alongside Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) chair Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, and the premiers of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
According to a news release on Thursday, the Western Arctic–Tariuq (offshore) Accord is an "historic" agreement, and the first of its kind with an Indigenous government as a full party.
The accord is intended to ensure that Inuvialuit, as well as residents in Yukon and the N.W.T., share in any decision-making about offshore development of petroleum resources, and are the prime beneficiaries of any economic benefits.
"This is a very significant day," Smith said at the formal signing event in Inuvik. He said such an agreement has been talked about for decades.
"It's been a long time coming, and I think everybody has made compromises and reached an understanding in how to move forward."
N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane said her government was waiting for the IRC to be ready to sign the accord, and then "came on board" as well.
"This accord will hopefully guarantee, once it's in legislation, that nothing will be decided about offshore in the Northwest Territories without us being at the table and agreeing in a consensus style," Cochrane said.
Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said the accord is also about protecting the region, in more ways than one.
"We know how sensitive things are there, not just from an environmental standpoint, but the more activity in the North when we think about Arctic sovereignty," Pillai said.
The 2022 federal budget provided $2.5 million over five years for the IRC to help implement and administer the accord.
The last time the federal government issued offshore exploration licences in the Arctic was in 2014. In 2016, Ottawa unilaterally halted offshore oil and gas licencing in the Arctic indefinitely, and committed to reviewing that decision every five years.
The premier of the N.W.T. at that time, Bob McLeod, then issued a "red alert" accusing the federal government of being "patronizing" and "colonial" — and bypassing local government.
In 2019, Ottawa prohibited offshore oil and gas activity in the Arctic.
Hundreds of Kashechewan First Nation evacuees have arrived in Niagara Falls, one of the Ontario cities taking in people from the Cree community as it endures a weeks-long water crisis due to a damaged treatment plant.
Windsor-based Dainty Foods to separate Canadian, American production as it launches new product line
A Windsor-based company that’s known for its rice products has just launched a new line of pasta side dishes.
According to polling by the Environics Institute, 70 per cent of Canadians are either very or somewhat satisfied with "the way democracy works in Canada."
A plan to partially demolish a 139-year-old church has set off an uproar in a Cabbagetown neighbourhood.
A 33-year-old man has died after being shot by police in Brantford, Ont., Friday morning, the province's police watchdog says.
A Whitehorse resident says gaps in the hospital system are affecting continuity of care – and he has 2,000 pages of documentation to prove it.
A Newfoundland and Labrador judge postponed a decision Friday about whether a man charged with three attempted murders is fit to stand trial, in a case where the accused's family says the health-care system failed him and his alleged victims.
A doctor in Nova Scotia's Pictou County has been handed a professional reprimand for the way he treated a 30-year-old woman who died after being admitted to the Aberdeen Regional Hospital in New Glasgow, N.S., in August 2023.
Some New Brunswick fishermen are breathing a sigh of relief in the wake of a trade deal announced Friday between Canada and China.
A person infected with measles landed at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport on Jan. 8 after flying with Air Canada, Quebec’s Health Ministry announced in a news release Friday.
A junior officer arrested alongside a now-disgraced Winnipeg police constable after the pair stole cash and other items they believed to be evidence during a 2024 "integrity test" has pleaded guilty.
The woman whose car was used to take Taya Sinclair to the Saskatoon house where she was killed says she was trying to help Sinclair.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had a front-row seat to a trade deal with China that he says marks a "positive day" for Canadian agriculture.