The Devolution of Natural Resources and Nunavut’s Constitutional Status

Abstract

Nunavut was created by federal statute in 1999, to meet the Crown’s obligations under Article 4 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) and the associated Nunavut Political Accord. The Nunavut Act was based upon the Northwest Territories Act, but “modernized.” Since the 1905 creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan from the North-West Territories, territorial governments have gradually evolved in the direction of provincial status, while remaining under ultimate federal jurisdiction. Important matters to be reviewed include the following: (1) Are the parties (the federal government, the Government of Nunavut, and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.) committed to serious negotiations? (2) What additional legislative powers would be conferred with the devolution of Crown lands and resources? (3) Will the existing federal programs for the administration of Crown lands and resources be adequately resourced? (4) To what extent will devolution provide significant own-source revenues to the Nunavut government, both in the short run and in the longer term? (5) How may federal-Nunavut fiscal transfers be affected? (6) In what respect is the devolution process likely to enhance or detract from the meeting of government obligations pursuant to the NLCA, particularly Article 23? (7) Given the provisions of the Nunavut Act, the NLCA, and federal-provincial considerations, how will the offshore areas and their resources be treated? The ultimate questions to be considered are whether the devolution of Crown lands and resources will advance the constitutional status of Nunavut; whether such devolution would be otherwise beneficial to the government and people of Nunavut; and whether provincial status is ultimately the best objective for Nunavut or, as Gordon Robertson describes it, “a mistaken goal.”