Michael Nadli

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One thing that I’ve really been thinking about lots is devolution, obviously. What’s fairly significant is the statement from the Premier that this is a done deal and that there are five out of the seven Aboriginal groups that have signed on. One of the regions that hasn’t signed on is the Deh Cho. I understand there are talks to try to perhaps identify some common ground in terms of building consensus and partnerships and the level of collaboration.

What really concerns me is, in terms of trying to build partnerships, we need to trust each other. I think I’ve built my...

Mr. Speaker, WHEREAS Northwest Territories highways are remote and communities are not equipped to respond to emergencies on our highway system;

AND WHEREAS communities must apply for reimbursement when they respond to accidents outside of their municipal boundaries;

AND WHEREAS there have been an average of 130 collisions per year on Northwest Territories highways over the last three years, and the volume of traffic on the Mackenzie Highway between the 60th parallel and Yellowknife will likely increase with the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge that now allows uninterrupted travel year round, 24...

Part of the negotiations process is trying to at least understand the issues and try to mediate and at least meet at a common point where both parties compromise. I think from the start of this process there has been great compromise, especially in terms of communities trying to… Without having a land claims settled First Nations communities have taken a leap of faith in terms of ensuring that this process works. One of the stumbling matters that has become apparent is that one of the policies that this government has stood on is the ratio of 45 percent land.

Can the Minister explain in terms...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask a question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on his update on the Protected Areas Strategy. As people might be aware, the Deh Cho has been in discussions a long time, particularly with communities that have put their faith in the Protected Areas Strategy when it began in 1999. It’s been a long, drawn-out process. Communities have been involved and elders have been involved. A lot of the elders that were initially involved have passed on, so a lot of the leaders have taken up at least the torch of trying to move forward on some key areas...

The Tu Nedhe communities would be combined in a riding with Detah, Ndilo and residents of the Ingraham Trail beyond Yellowknife’s boundaries. These proposals technically give every vote something we might call equal power, but these votes are not the only source of power, and day to day with any of the people in the affected ridings would actually be better represented. I think anyone who knows NWT would say no, and emphatically no at that.

I don’t know if there are any ways to improve on these proposals, but I cannot support the choices offered by the Boundaries Commission. Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the government provide a response to this report within 120 days.

I move that this committee recommends that the Board of Management provide sufficient additional funding for legal expenses, on an ongoing basis, to permit the NWT Human Rights Commission to continue becoming a party to all complaints referred for hearings to the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister assure this House that the pause that the government is taking at this point will not put into peril the PAS process and jeopardize committee funding. Mahsi.

The Protected Areas Strategy initiative has been long established. It’s a tripartite arrangement, as the Minister outlined, between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the federal government and First Nations. What’s really important to recognize is it’s an eight-step process that’s basically driven by communities. The Government of the Northwest Territories has suddenly stepped back from the Protected Areas Strategy process. Can the Minister explain this decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Here in Denendeh and since the treaty for Dene lands, we are living our traditional way of hunting and trapping, and also there are Metis and Inuit, and it’s to the point where they are governing their own lands. [Translation ends]

…has not yet signed their land claims agreement but has reached a number of interim arrangements. There are six candidate protected areas in the Dehcho in various stages of the Protected Areas Strategy process. The land is protected under a land withdrawal interim measures agreement that expires this year. The Government of the...