Michael Miltenberger

Thank you. This is the time for devolution. We’ve been waiting forty-some years since 1967. The Member has stood here in the most impassioned way decrying what’s happening to us, decisions being made by a far-away government that we have no control over, money being taken away, fiduciary obligations not looked after, legal obligations and land claims brought into question.

Mr. Speaker, I would think if the Member would stand up and say yes, this is time for devolution, that we can do this as Northerners to take over those authorities to protect the interests today and for tomorrow, because...

We know, clearly, what has been closed. I don’t have the specific list of the other monitoring that is being undertaken, but industry would have responsibilities as well. In terms of broad overall monitoring of the aquatic ecosystems tied to the Mackenzie River basin, the federal government has the primary responsibility and they are scaling back those resources.

Currently the federal government does have that responsibility. What we are negotiating now is an arrangement with Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, mainly to, in fact, have a legally binding agreement that will address the quality and quantity issues as they pertain to water flowing to us as a downstream jurisdiction. We are, in fact, negotiating with the federal government to take over that responsibility within the Northwest Territories. But in the meantime they do still have the legal and fiduciary responsibility when it comes to water, when it comes to honouring, and they will...

We know that the federal government’s taking somewhere in the neighbourhood of $4.3 billion a year additional money out of the federal civil service programs across the land. What those specific budget targets are, or deficit reduction targets are, I don’t know. We do know that we are engaged in transboundary water negotiations. We do know we’re involved in negotiations on devolution through the AIP, which includes water. We also know that we’re engaged with the Alberta and federal governments in setting up a monitoring system that was supposed to be world class, according to Mr. Baird who was...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Building on Our Foundation 2011-2016, A Strategic Plan for the NWT Health and Social Services System. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled the Status Report, Department of Finance Summary of Strategic Initiatives, Actions, Activities, Deliverables and Timelines. Thank you.

This gets us back to the issue of devolution and taking over authority for land, water and resource development in the Northwest Territories. Right now we are at the mercy of the federal government. They will consult with us, but really they have the whip hand as it were. So if we get a devolution deal, as the Premier has been saying, Northerners will finally make decisions in the North, about the North, for the North, by Northerners. Right now we’re having this discussion about decisions that remain 4,000 or 5,000 miles away. We weren’t consulted. We just got the notification that we shared...

Who’s looking out for the water, Mr. Speaker? We are. We, this Legislative Assembly, we, the working group, the Aboriginal Steering Committee that drafted and brought together the Water Strategy. I have on my desk a draft letter, that I have to get signed off before I leave tomorrow, to the Ministers, expressing our strong concern about what has happened and the cutback to those resources and cutbacks that are happening in general, and their inability to come to the table to participate fully through Indian Affairs with the water transboundary agreements. We have some significant issues that...

Of course, the best security we have is to negotiate the agreement-in-principle so that we get the resources and we control the decision-making and the processes, and from here on in if there are any changes, it will be done by people in the Northwest Territories.

At this point in time we’re still subject to the broader planning of the federal government where they issue out broad targets to departments, $4.3 billion to the government, and they’re going to find the money from everywhere. We’re caught in that process. There are layoffs across the land from the federal government side; layoffs in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is aware of its responsibilities under the Water Strategy. We’ve had recent correspondence from Minister Duncan to that effect. This move by Environment Canada to put all these monitoring stations on hold while they do a review is, I believe, a part of the Deficit Reduction Program that the federal government is undergoing right now. The assumption is that once they’re closed, that they won’t reopen, however, there’s still the faint hope that once the assessment’s over, that some of them will be implemented or started up again. The fact of the matter is...