Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the meeting’s happening and the time frame we did…. Again, I go back to the fact that I needed to have an idea that the federal government would take this up and carry it forward and on that basis feel comfortable that we could proceed.

Notification that the Prime Minister was travelling up was rather short, and as Members were aware, trying to get some time set aside to actually have a one on one about the Northwest Territories with the Prime Minister was quite difficult. That doesn’t give any excuse to the fact that we were there. And, yes, at caucus I probably should...

Mr. Speaker, through our whole process we have established, whether it is budgeting, finding new revenues, sitting down with committee to give ideas of where we can go…. Those options are there. In fact, as I stated earlier, I am seeking time with the committee to sit down and have more discussion about the proposal, the framework that has been forwarded. Hopefully, we will have that very soon, and we will continue with those discussions.

Now, there has been lots of discussion on the devolution package that has been on the table. It would be sort of an update of where that is, plus this idea of...

Mr. Speaker, as past Assemblies have, this government also stands by the fact that we as the Government of the Northwest Territories will not interfere in the sense of what they negotiate for authorities from governments, whether it’s the federal government or existing programs and services that we deliver. We are involved in those negotiations. We will continue to honour those tables and work forward.

Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, whether it comes to the GNWT at a stage and then goes under self-government when those agreements are finally signed, those are all part of the process. I think we need...

Mr. Speaker, let’s not put numbers out there that are not factual at this point: $500 million. You talked about cost sharing, but a percentage has yet to be discussed of what level, as well, from the Northwest Territories. I talk about a partnership among the federal government, the GNWT and the private sector. There are a number of things we need to work out. It is early days on that, but we felt we needed to put that on the table and get that recognized before a call for an election happened. Then we’ve got ground to work with. So this is a framework we’re working on.

As I said, I’d be...

The fact is that at times we have to move and move fairly quickly. When we became aware that the Prime Minister was going to be visiting our jurisdiction, we felt that was the opportune time to put before him and his staff the idea of establishing a framework. That is a step we have taken, to come up with a proposal that is a framework to try to cross the gap that is now in place with the existing deal on the table.

Again, I called a number of the regional leaders. Those I was able to speak to I let know that this was the intention. We forwarded letters on to them in that regard, and we’re...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize an individual I worked with and who, as a result, helped me grow as a person. Larry McNeill is retiring after 32 years and nine months of service with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

He started with the NWT Power Corporation and then joined the Department of Public Works and Services in Inuvik as a heavy duty mechanic. It was shortly after that, that I joined the department as an apprentice auto mechanic in 1981. From the days of working in what was the old Inuvik fire hall to a newer location and then to working on...

Mr. Speaker, the Member has hit on a very key area. I think that when we look at the royalties that are being taken out of the Northwest Territories right now in today’s existing agreements, we would say that those dollars could be flowed back through an infrastructure program to meet the needs of the Northwest Territories. That is the approach we are taking.

Now, the federal government has always stated that Norman Wells — the oil, the pipeline out of that community — is not a royalty; it is an equity. Well, we are saying it is money one way or another that flows out of the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, the initial contact was by phone with me and a number of the leaders. I left a message for others I could not get hold of. We follow up with a letter just as we are sending our package out. We’ve got some correspondence, as well, at the regional table we set up; we’ve been discussing the file ongoing.

I know, for example, the Akaitcho group are saying they’ve got their own process. They do not want to be involved in this, in fact, and wish us to not have any further discussions on devolution and resource revenue sharing. The Sahtu is undergoing some of their own work and looking at...

First of all, I should say that in my correspondence with the Prime Minister I feel we’ve got an opportunity to continue the discussions as we look at this framework we’ve put on the table.

Now, with this framework that may be a way of bridging them. In fact, I would say that is still using the money that is coming out of the Northwest Territories, so I think that is why the discussion has been open and remains open. Hopefully, shortly after the election we will be able to move on that along with the Members of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is quite right. The fact is that we have over many years and through many Assemblies tried to come to a conclusion from what was one day called a Northern accord to devolution and resource revenue sharing.

We know that the last offer on the table was one that, when working with the aboriginal governments and organizations, they were not supportive of. Some groups are saying they want to do their own work first or come up with a settlement in their self-government discussions.

But through the regional table that we’ve established during the life of this...