Bill Braden

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in this Assembly we had quite a day debating the merits of the process of devolution and resource revenue sharing. I think it was one of our better days so far as the 15th Assembly, Mr. Speaker, and I would really like to congratulate my colleagues and our staff for assisting with this process. My question today is a follow-up to that debate. It’s to the Premier on the issue of devolution. Mr. Speaker, last week in response to a question, the Premier committed to make available the GNWT’s devolution mandate and my question to the Premier is when might we be...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Finally, does this estimate include the cost of decommissioning and cleaning up the old facility? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I couldn’t agree more that as the wealth of the territory is pumped and flown and driven out of the NWT, then we have to act as soon as we can to get a share of it. This is where Ottawa seems to be so good at the game. They have been very good at this for years. Process, divide and conquer are the tactics that keep us off balance and hurt us when we try to do this. The preamble to this deal of the signing, Mr. Speaker, on March 18th, refers quite clearly to the realization of resource revenue. It is not just a management deal, it is a money deal, too. Is this agreement worth...

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, some $200 million flowing into federal coffers that are already bulging under a $9.1 billion surplus. We get about $8 million out of this $200 million. I do the math, Mr. Speaker, and it just doesn’t figure, especially as our Legislature struggles this year on how to pay our $20 million of our budgets for health, education, housing and other matters.

Mr. Speaker, we often hear criticism and outrage of how huge multinational corporations plunder the resources of developing nations. They get away with it by taking advantage of lax, uncoordinated and short-sighted...

The North is also the centre of some of the world's most progressive moves, Mr. Speaker, in democracy and governance. We are trying to make the best of them right here in this Assembly, as we try to forge new alliances between the indigenous peoples of northern Canada and newer Canadians from other nations. We have been, and will continue to be, the most exciting place to live in Canada, if the dynamics of our politics, our economy and our societies evolve.

Just weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, we heard that Canada has awakened to these factors and is calling for a new vision and a new purpose to be...

Mr. Speaker, the answer that the Premier gave is one that I was hoping he would. There are a lot of people standing behind this. The signature of the previous Minister of Northern Affairs is on here too, and yet this seems to be where the bottleneck is. Why is it that, as we all seem to agree, on March 18th, that we can’t say, okay, we agreed to live up to a deadline here of April 2006 to make this deal work? Why is it that we can’t do it? Just do it. All this stuff about interim this, and sort of that, and maybe this, I am just so tired of it, Mr. Speaker. We make an agreement to get...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Premier, the Honourable Joe Handley. They centre on the devolution framework and negotiations that I guess are underway. This is where I am seeking some clarification. March 18th of this year, the Premier, in his capacity of Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and the Minister of Indian Affairs, and a number of other aboriginal leaders signed the NWT Lands and Resources Devolution Framework Agreement. In that agreement, it sets out a timeline that suggests that an effective target date for this agreement shall be April of 2006....

Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. For the past 130 years, the vast lands of the Northwest Territories have been the treasure chest of Canada, the collateral of the nation, with the riches from our forests, rocks and waters. But over the past decades, Mr. Speaker, four provinces and one territory have been carved out of our boundaries. Today, while we are left with a much smaller geography, we are still blessed with the resources that an increasingly hungry world wants, and we have at least two of these. We have energy and we have minerals, and off in the future, Mr. Speaker, let’s look way out there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s with considerable regret that I stand here to speak against the motion. I will take some time to qualify my position here. The moves that the Northwest Territories should make, Mr. Speaker -- and when I say Northwest Territories I include not only this government here, but our partners among the First Nations and in the communities -- we have to set some new thresholds, some new targets, some new bars for ourselves and for our partners at the federal level, too, if we are indeed going to achieve something in the way of a resource management regime that will mean...