Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened to CKLB on the radio the other day when the Premier was meeting with the chiefs and they were talking about a number of issues with the Premier. I got to thinking in terms of his dialogue this afternoon with the Member for Kam Lake about a going forward basis within the life of this Assembly here. I would ask the Premier if there’s enough discussion from the chiefs and other aboriginal governments to look at the Northwest Territories, as he was saying, in terms of the possibility of having discussions about constitution reforms and how the Northwest Territories can become a real partner in the confederation of Canada. Do we take the next step in terms of having that type of discussion? Or is that too big of a piece to bite on right now with respect to the pressing issues we have to deal with in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m aware that at the Dene leadership meetings the topic of constitutional reform has come up. I’ve had discussions with the Dene National chief on the issue and I asked or he had requested that we look at trying to establish a joint process and that we undertake approaching the federal government to see if they would be party to that. I told him that we should be looking at what opportunities we have available working together in the Northwest Territories and be prepared to bring that to Members to have further discussion on.
In terms of the joint process and how to approach the federal government and the opportunities so all people in the Northwest Territories can have the opportunity to work together, is the Premier and his Cabinet, as well as the Members on this side here, going to see an opportunities paper or discussion paper saying this is over the last several discussions with leaderships right across the North, I think we’re ready to move on with this issue here to approach the federal government. Has the Premier thought about this in terms of a time frame of when this can happen?
There hasn’t been any time lines or discussion papers put in place. It has been a number of discussions at this point. I’d be prepared to get the material and the work that’s been done before and sit down with committee to go through what has been done and should we look at the opportunity. It depends on, for example, I understand the Dene leadership will do a motion on the subject, is my understanding. It depends on the results of that and the wishes of this Assembly as well.
I certainly look forward to when we can have potentially this discussion about the constitutional reform in the Northwest Territories. When the Premier receives a motion from the Dene chiefs will that be enough to push him forward to say I have the chief in the Northwest Territories asking for a constitution reform. Would that be enough to bring some form of discussion on this side to say we need to look at how we’re going to shape the Northwest Territories and how we want to put it into the confederation rightly in Canada.
As I said, there has been no commitment and times established. This has been a couple of discussions. As I said, I’m prepared to sit down with Members of the Assembly committee to discuss previous work that was done, where that went, and if there’s agreement that we should look at this process and get further involved or should we put it on the agenda of the next government.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Premier’s discussions with the other Premiers has this type of discussion ever come up in terms of having the Northwest Territories play a greater role in the confederation of Canada in terms of asking for what we want rather than being treated like an orphan of the federal government? We are moving out of that or hoping we’re going to move out of that frame of mind with the federal government. Has the Premier had any support in discussions with the other Premiers?
We haven’t had any discussions around constitutional development. The areas we have had discussions on is devolution and resource revenue sharing and getting their support for those initiatives that we’ve put on the table. That work continues, but we’ve not entered into the field of constitution development.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
