With the signing of the devolution agreement, the Government of Nunavut’s newfound authority over Crown lands, fresh water, and other non-renewable resources will be official as of April 1, 2027.
Through a resource revenue sharing formula, the GN will collect all resource revenues until it hits a $9 million cap from mining and oil and gas projects on Crown land. There’s also an option for the GN to make a one-time change whereby it would take in 50 per cent of resource revenues up to a five per cent ceiling of the gross expenditure base. As negotiated previously through the Nunavut Agreement, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) is entitled to 50 per cent of the first $2 million and five per cent of any additional resource royalties.
Until April 2027, $67.25 million is being set aside by the federal government for the transitional period of financing of resources and infrastructure, which will “allow for any number of things that will need sorting out in the next three years,” said Mark Johnson, executive director and deputy of negotiations for the Government of Canada.
“That’s to help the GN to build the infrastructure to put in the what and the where devolution service delivery happens,” Johnson said. “Some of these questions aren’t answered yet — it’s a process we’re going through… so [money] will come out of that particular pot during the implementation period, and once the effective date [of the devolution agreement] takes place in 2027, and the GN has an ongoing amount, that just goes into the general amount, and then the GN will be able to decide where [the money] is going.”
In addition, the Government of Canada will increase its annual Territorial Transfer Funding payment to the GN by $85.5 million to support post-devolution training, on top of a $15 million allotment for that purpose.
The federal government will also provide NTI with $3 million, to be adjusted for inflation in the future. A one-time payment of $1.75 million will also go to NTI.
Ottawa will continue to fund operations of the Nunavut Water Board and the Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal.
The bottom line is that Nunavut is “to receive a greater [amount] than [it] would have normally,” summarized Pauloosie Suvega, the Government of Nunavut’s chief devolution officer. “We may as well keep all of [the resource revenue] up to a certain amount to cover costs and towards a larger purpose.
“This way, if there’s any discussions or plans being discussed, whether for now or for the future, Nunavut [does need part of those conversations…as we start to look at what the some of these impacts [of this resource extraction] will look like long into the future.”