Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement with questions to the Premier today. I would like to start by noting that Bill C-15 is making its way through Parliament in Ottawa. Our Member of Parliament is working hard, but without our support he is having a hard time convincing the federal government to separate the changes to the MVRMA from the devolution part of the bill.
I’m sure the Premier has had some time to think about this. What steps does he propose that he could take to limit the damage that will be done by forcing the closure of the regional boards? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re working very closely with the Aboriginal governments. We have five out of seven Aboriginal governments that have signed on to devolution. We’re just finalizing signing ceremonies with two more to sign on. We’re working with the Dehcho First Nations. We expect that we’re making good progress on the discussion of land use. We expect that after a short period of consultation, there’s every indication that the Dehcho First Nation will sign on, and we are entering into a similar process with Akaitcho First Nations.
It is our intention to work very closely with the Government of Canada and the Aboriginal governments to continue to work and improve our regulatory system. We have always said that we want an efficient and effective regulatory framework. We will also maintain a presence in regional centres and we will work very closely so that we are all working together to move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Premier. The Premier has done a very good job of getting our Aboriginal groups to the table with devolution but, of course, that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about amendments to the MVRMA and they’re speaking with one voice and the Premier has been silent on this.
Again, I mentioned the idea of meeting with our Aboriginal partners to discuss what can be done on this specific issue to get that regional voice in there, which has been silenced and not supported by our Premier so far.
Has the Premier had any discussions with our Aboriginal partners on how we can help maintain strong regional voices in the new system? I might point out that all studies have indicated that those systems are very effective and efficient. Thank you.
We’ve had a number of discussions with all the Aboriginal governments that have signed on to devolution and the so-called Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative.
Our government stands by what we negotiated in land claims over 20 years ago. For example, the Gwich’in Agreement, which was signed and negotiated 20 years ago, reads that “Where, by legislation, any other land and water board is established having jurisdiction in an area which includes the settlement area, it shall assume the powers and responsibilities of the land and water board in 24.4.1 and shall become the land and water board for the purposes of this agreement. Legislation may provide for regional panels of the land and water board in (a)” and “The Gwich’in Tribal Council shall be consulted with respect to any such legislation.”
Notwithstanding that, we will be working with the Gwich’in Tribal Council. We have an MOU that we signed with them. We also will be working with them in the Intergovernmental Council. That is in the process of getting signed this week. Thank you.
Thanks to the Premier. Our Aboriginal partners are talking about a court challenge to Bill C-15. Clearly, we’re not being effective if that’s the case. So, devolution is one thing and, again, what we’re talking about here are amendments to the MVRMA which the federal government has included in Bill C-15. I’m sure the Premier agrees that this will bring uncertainty to the future of devolution, this legal action in the courts itself, as well to future mineral extraction applications.
Is there anything we, with our newly developed authority, can do to alleviate the concerns of our regional partners? Mahsi.
Aboriginal governments are governments in their own right and it’s not up to me to take away that right for them to legislate as they see fit to do so. That’s part and parcel of being a responsible government. We will continue to work with them and we have five years after devolution whereby we will be reviewing the MVRMA, at which time we can work together during that period to improve the system, and even as we go forward after five years, to develop a system that will work better after that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier again. I don’t question the right of the federal government to do their legislation, but our Aboriginal partners, the mass are speaking against this. So what I’m talking about here is mitigating the impacts of this. It’s going to happen. The Devolution Agreement commits us to stick with the MVRMA for at least five years, but the current federal government only has a mandate until 2015.
Will the Premier show some leadership and begin working with our partners on a strategy for re-establishing regional boards when a new federal government is in place? Mahsi.
We will commit to working with our Aboriginal governments to improve in every area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
