Watershed Governance: Lessons from the Mackenzie Basin Wednesday, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Watershed Governance: Lessons from the Mackenzie Basin Wednesday, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Evolution in Transboundary Watershed Governance: Lessons from the Mackenzie Basin Wednesday, September 16 th 2015 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016 Thank You to Our

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Evolution in Transboundary Watershed Governance: Lessons from the Mackenzie Basin

Wednesday, September 16th 2015 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT

POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016

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Thank You to Our Partners & Supporters

POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016

Series Partners & Funders

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A Few Things Before We Begin

  • 1. Audio
  • 2. Question Period
  • 3. Introductions

POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016

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Today’s Speakers

Honorable J. Michael Miltenberger

Minister, Environment and Natural Resources, Government of Northwest Territories

Merrell-Ann Phare

Chief Negotiator, NWT-Alberta Bilateral Water Management Agreement; Executive Director, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources

POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016

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Woven Stories

Sharing the Process and Outcomes of the NWT-AB Transboundary Water Agreement Negotiations

The Honourable J. Michael Miltenberger Merrell-Ann S. Phare September 16 2015

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Five Woven Stories

 The Agreement  The Existence of Complexity  The Types and Role of Time  The Negotiation Process  Why this Should Matter to Canada

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The Agreement

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Mackenzie River Basin

  • 20% land mass of Canada
  • 1.8 million km2
  • 10th largest basin in world
  • 3 deltas: Slave, Peace-Athabasca, and Mackenzie
  • 11% of the freshwater that flows into Arctic ocean, massive effect on circulation
  • Critical to Arctic ecosystem
  • 80% NWT waters flow from Alberta
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STORY 1: the agreement

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The fun stuff: aquatic ecosystem

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The fun stuff: aquatic ecosystem

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The fun stuff: water quality

 Maintain natural variability  Baseline is current

 Set objectives (standards) if move

  • utside variability

 There are triggers before that point

 Eliminating ‘nasties’ to below level of detection

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The fun stuff: water quantity

 Ecosystem needs first  90%, split remaining 10%  Slave = 1.9% AAF  Interbasin transfer

 By Special Act of Legislature only

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The fun stuff: cooperation

 Cooperative Risk Informed Management (RIM) approach  Traditional Knowledge and Aboriginal involvement  Prior notification, information sharing, consultation

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The fun stuff: not seeing eye to eye

  • Political conflict resolution
  • Failure to meet key terms: possible mitigation, conciliatory measures
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STORY 2: complexity

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Alberta and Northwest Territories

At first blush, it seems like a bit of a big guy-little guy scenario…

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Compare the Numbers

Size Population

NWT size: 1,140,835 km² AB size: 661,848 km² NWT Population: 43,000 AB Population: 4.1 million

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Compare the Numbers

Northwest Territories

 GDP $4.4 billion  GDP per capita $100,731  Av total income (2010) $53,632

Alberta

 GDP $338 billion  GDP per capita $84,390  Av total income (2010) $53,408

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The 60th Parallel: a great divide?

Political system differences Prior cooperative engagement Independence of jurisdictions Approach to scale and pace of development

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Devolution April 1, 2014

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Indigenous Rights

 3 Aboriginal Governments in NWT assert rights along the transboundary region  Dehcho, Métis, Akaitcho  All other Aboriginal Governments have a right to be involved in negotiations in addition to be consulted under s.35  Aboriginal governments in AB assert into the NWT  LCAs: “substantially unaltered as to quality, quantity, and rate

  • f flow….”
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Upstream – Downstream

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Water energy nexus

The underlying (generally unspoken) issue is the use of water to make energy in BC and Alberta

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But, despite all this, we were

  • ptimistic, determined not to fail…
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and, we were on a mission.

Pretty sure it’s….

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STORY 3: Time

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Time keeps on ticking….

POLICY BUREAUCRATIC TIME

and each clock moves at a very different speed….

POLITICAL

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The Timeline 1992-2007

2000: NT-YT Transboundary Agreement signed 1997: Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement signed Feb 2007: NT-AB MOU signed 2006-2008: Numerous Aboriginal water gatherings in NWT

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1992: Rio Summit

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The Timeline Backstory: 2007

“I was thinking of taking a sabbatical anyway….”

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The Timeline Backstory 2007

March 2007: Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly pass a motion for the basic human right to water.

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The Timeline Backstory: 2007

Reading can be dangerous to one’s ability to accept the status quo.

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Mulling ensued.

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It was time to get our thinking clear…

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…which we did.

2008: NWT Water Strategy development begins 2010: NWT Water Strategy released 2011: Action Plan released

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…which we did.

The vision of the WSS is that waters of the Northwest Territories remains clean, abundant, and productive for all time.

Goals:

  • Waters that flow into, within or through the

NWT are substantially unaltered in quality, quantity and rates of flow.

  • Residents have access to safe, clean and

plentiful drinking water at all times.

  • Aquatic ecosystems are healthy.
  • Everyone making water stewardship decisions

works together to communicate and share information.

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The Timeline Backstory: 2010

How I met Merrell-Ann….

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NWT-Alberta Border Watersheds NWT-BC Border Watersheds NWT-SK Border Watersheds NWT-Yukon Border Watersheds

STORY 4: the negotiations

NWT-Yukon Border Watersheds

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Negotiations Timeline

2010/2011: NWT

Water Strategy and Action Plan released

NWT Transboundary

Sept 2011:

NWT negotiation team established

Jan 2014- Sept 2015:

Negotiations with BC

Sept 2011- Dec 2014:

Negotiations with AB

Feb 2012:

Cabinet Direction

March 18 2015

NWT- AB Signing Ceremony

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The Team: Build the Best Team

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Per son

Anot her per son A dif f er ent per son Anot her dif f er ent per son The l ast per son

These folks all talk to each other in nice, neat, predictable ways…

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Or maybe not…

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Many moving parts…..

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The Team: Build the Best Team

 External  Aboriginal Steering Committee  Expert Advisors  NGOs  Funders  The Facilitator

 Internal  Negotiations  Scientific  Engineering  Aboriginal Liaison  Political Strategic

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The Best Team

 Internal

 Merrell-Ann Phare, Chief Negotiator 

  • Dr. Erin Kelly, Lead

Negotiator  Shannon Cumming, Aboriginal Affairs Liaison  Ralph Pentland, Negotiations Advisor  Meghan Beveridge, Negotiations Coordinator  Andrea Czarnecki, Water Quality Specialist  Derek Faria, Water Quantity Specialist  Annie Levasseur, Technical Coordinator

 Internal Political Strategic

 Minister, Premier, Cabinet, Principal Secretary

 External

 Aboriginal Steering Committee  Rep’s of most Aboriginal Governments in NWT  Expert Advisors: 

  • Dr. Nigel Bankes

  • Dr. Jim Bruce

  • Dr. Rob DeLoe

 Emory Paquin 

  • Dr. Bob Sandford

  • Dr. David Schindler

 Others  NGOs  Funders  RBC Blue Water Fund  Gordon Foundation

 Facilitator Lee Failing (Compass)

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Behkà: Point of the Spear

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Negotiation Streams

Simultaneous process Multilateral process Federal involvement Aboriginal section 35 consultation

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Multilateral and Simultaneous

Under MRB Master Agreement:  NWT: 4 agreements

 5 if include NU

 Alberta: 3 agreements  BC: 3 agreements  Yukon: 2 agreements  SK: 2 agreements

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Simultaneous

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Multilateral and Simultaneous

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Territorial Role / Federal Role

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Consent vs. Section 35 Consultation

Building support Finding agreement Achieving consent

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The negotiating approach

 Table the first documents  Drive every agenda  Be willing to spend a lot of money  Be (more) prepared  Be (more) nimble  Use all levers

Principles: why we care about things Interests: what we care about Options: how we protect what we care about Agreement: what both parties commit to do to protect what we care about

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STORY 5: Why should this agreement matter to the rest of Canada?

http://omiusajpic.org/2010/11/17/canada-endorses-indigenous/

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Basin Level Nested Governance

Mackenzie River Basin

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GNWT Intergovernmental Council Aboriginal Steering Committee Devolution Agreement Water Strategy MRB Master Agreement Mackenzie River Basin Board MRB TB Bilateral Bilateral Mgmt Committee

Mackenzie River Basin

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Water Energy Nexus

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Embrace Complexity

Science without policy. Policy without law. Law without relationships. Relationships without time. Time without goals. Goals without foundations.

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Reconciliation

  • Equity
  • Ecosystem and

humans

  • Big guy and little guy
  • Upstream downstream
  • Aboriginal and non-

Aboriginal

  • Present and future
  • Social contract
  • This process creates a

social contract

  • Business, government,

Aboriginal, public

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Thank you for listening.

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Question Period

POLIS Water Sustainability Project Creating a Blue Dialogue Webinar Series 2015/2016

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Thank You!

Stay tuned for details on the next webinar in the series.

www.youtube.com/POLISWaterProject