Good afternoon, colleagues. It is a pleasure to welcome you back as we resume the Fifth Session of the 16th Legislative Assembly. I would like to take this opportunity, belatedly, but most sincerely, to publicly extend my best wishes to you, my colleagues in this House, and to all the residents of the Northwest Territories for a peaceful and healthy New Year.
Today is Groundhog Day. My note said I was supposed to pause here for laughter, but...
---Laughter
However, right across the country it looks like the groundhog will not see his shadow today. As you know, this means we are in for an early spring. Regrettably, our rules are silent on this matter, so you can still expect another six weeks of session after today.
Although it has been several months since we last met in this Chamber, I know that each of you have been working diligently in committee, Cabinet and your constituencies during the extended adjournment. Your work will continue as this sitting promises to be a busy one.
Unfortunately, we have lost some of our revered and most loved elders since we last met. I would like to extend condolences of the House to all those who have recently lost loved ones. We are a small and interconnected Territory and we all mourn these losses together.
Colleagues, I know you are eager to begin your work here and I offer you my usual support. I look forward to a productive session, with lively debate reflecting the issues and concerns of the people we serve. I ask that you continue to devote your time and energy to make the necessary and thoughtful decisions that will guide the 16th Legislative Assembly as we enter into our last portion of our mandate.
My expectation is that you will continue to treat each other and this institution with the respect and dignity that all deserve. I, in turn, will do my best to assist each of you to that end, applying your rules fairly and consistently to the very best of my ability.
In our efforts to bring the proceedings of this House to as many NWT residents as possible, the Assembly will continue to rebroadcast our proceedings in as many of our official languages as possible. During this sitting we will have interpretation in the following languages: Inuinnaqtun, South Slavey, Tlicho, Gwich’in, French, Chipewyan, Inuvialuktun, Inuktitut and North Slavey. Our thanks to the many interpreters who work with us to bring our words to your communities.
It is now my duty to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It reads:
Dear Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the passage of:
Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2011-2012;
Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2010-2011; and
Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 5, 2010-2011
during the Fifth Session of the 16th Legislative Assembly. Yours truly, George Tuccaro, Commissioner.
Thank you, colleagues.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome Members back to the House. I look forward to working with all of you during this last budget session of the 16th Legislative Assembly.
After decades of work it was my honour last Wednesday to sign the Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement-in-Principle on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is an historic step in our development as a Territory, an agreement to move to the next stage of negotiations that will, in the end, give the people of the NWT the authority and control of our own public lands and resources so decisions about our Territory, our home, are made here by elected officials who are directly accountable to the people of the NWT.
This latest agreement-in-principle is a result of almost 10 years of work and negotiation between the GNWT, Canada and Aboriginal governments. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a copy of the signed AIP.
History is never made quietly, and signing the devolution AIP was no exception. It would have been better to have all of the regional Aboriginal governments at the table, but in the end a decision had to be made to keep the negotiations going or to shut the process down.
I believe strongly that decisions about northern lands and resources can and should be made by our own residents. We should all embrace the opportunity to become the stewards of our own lands. I’m encouraged by those Aboriginal elders and leaders who remind us that we have to work together. I agree. I will be inviting Aboriginal leaders from across the NWT to re-engage with us in the coming weeks to determine their interest in finding a way forward together.
We now begin the next leg of our journey. As Premier I am committed to keeping the devolution process moving forward towards a final agreement. The AIP has provisions for the remaining Aboriginal governments to sign and join in the next phase of the process whenever they are ready.
At our table there is a place waiting for each of our Territory’s Aboriginal leaders. The Inuvialuit have already joined us and the Metis Nation will sign next week. I hope the remaining regional Aboriginal leaders will give serious consideration to returning to the negotiations and help us guide and influence this process as it moves forward. To these leaders I say: come and be a partner in building our future together. Help us realize true self-determination.
Now is the time to make sure we can continue to capitalize on all the work that we have done to date. I believe that in the end we share a common vision:
decision-making for the NWT, in the NWT, and by NWT people;
ensuring that northern development benefits Northerners;
a sustainable balance of development and environmental protection;
a fair share of resource revenues staying in the NWT, benefitting our residents, their governments and their Territory.
I believe that this AIP will help get us there.
Mr. Speaker, this AIP represents a significant step forward in terms of the vision, goals and priorities we set out for ourselves as an Assembly when we first met more than three years ago. At that time we said that one of our priorities was to achieve significant progress towards northern control over administration of lands and the regulatory system and resource revenues. With the signing of the AIP last week, this Assembly has moved closer to achieving the goal of a strong and independent North than ever before.
More than this, real progress towards northern control over public lands and resources also moves us closer towards achieving the other goals we set out for ourselves as an Assembly. Devolution will sustain present and future generations by putting Northerners in charge of the decisions about how public lands, water and resources are developed and used. With this authority, we will be able to make sure development decisions are in the best interests of our residents and consistent with our own values and priorities.
Devolution and access to resource revenues will also help us pursue our goal of a diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices. Devolution will give the GNWT additional financial resources that could help us fund economic development programs and make infrastructure investments that can help grow the NWT economy; investments like improved transportation links that will make our mineral resources more accessible and support for more sustainable development throughout the North. We could invest in our vast hydro potential, both lowering the cost of energy in our communities and reducing our dependence on imported diesel at the same time.
Devolution will also position us to achieve success on our goal of healthy, educated people. With devolution, we could invest in capacity building and education programs, ensuring that our residents are trained and qualified to participate in and benefit from the economic activity going on around them. With more choices and opportunities available to them, Northerners can hope to see more sustainable, vibrant and safe communities and be better positioned to lead healthier and more productive lives.
Mr. Speaker, the devolution AIP is only a step towards this future vision of the Northwest Territories, but it is an important step and a reminder of the fact that it will take time to create the kind of North that our residents want and deserve. Throughout the life of this Assembly, the GNWT has been making investments in initiatives designed to move us towards our overall goals, just as we have done with the devolution AIP. The time has now come to consolidate the gains that we have made so that we and future Assemblies can continue to build on them. In the same way that the devolution AIP is a foundation for our future success, the work we have done to advance our goals over the past three years is the foundation for all the work that is to follow.
As Members we are challenged to make decisions that are in the best interests of all NWT residents while representing our home communities. While we may continue to have differences, we cannot let those differences distract us from the goal we can all agree upon: that we make decisions today with future generations in mind.
In this Assembly, at the northern leaders’ table, and in our communities, we have sought and found unity when we have focussed on the future...
when we have concentrated not on the difficulties but on the possibilities;
when we have focused on realizing opportunities and choices for our people;
focused on capturing the potential of our rich resource base -- in a responsible and sustainable way that maximizes the benefits of this wealth for residents of the NWT;
when we have focused on taking our rightful place as decision-makers in the NWT.
I would like to thank Members for their shared commitment to this better future. With the signing of the devolution AIP, we have opened the door to an even better future than we had before. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whereas Minister’s Statement 88-16(5), Sessional Statement, has been tabled in this House, and whereas this sessional statement requires further consideration, now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Minister’s Statement 88-16(5), Sessional Statement, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The motion is on the floor. The motion is non-debatable.
---Carried
Minister’s Statement 88-16(5) will be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration.
The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Thursday, February 3, 2011. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use my statement today to acknowledge the loss of a constituent, a long-time resident of our Territory and our city. Mr. Jim Wylie passed away on November 15, 2010, at the age of 84 and he will be very much missed by family and many northern friends.
Jim was born on a farm in Saskatchewan, grew up on the farm and then worked it for a number of years. In December of 1965, Jim and his family -- his wife and four children -- moved to Yellowknife where Jim would start a job as a diamond driller at Giant Mine. They arrived to minus-40 below in early January of 1966. But all the family adjusted well to the North, loved being here and it soon became their only home. Jim continued to work at Giant for many years. He progressed from diamond driller to miner and then to mechanic in the machine shop up until he retired.
Lucky for us, he and his wife remained in Yellowknife on retirement. Jim was a family man and a community man. He was kind and generous and willingly helped out anyone in need; it didn’t matter if they were a friend or a stranger. He fully participated in this community and then gave back to the community through volunteer work with a number of different organizations: The Elks Lodge, the Giant Curling Club, the Yellowknife Yacht Club in its very early years, the Yellowknife Golf Course, Meals on Wheels and the Yellowknife Seniors Society and Baker Centre activities after he retired. He was a boater and loved spending time on the water, especially Great Slave Lake.
Jim was open and loving to everyone he met. Strangers became friends in short order after their initial introduction to Jim. He and his wife Marion were happily married for 60-plus years.
It is said that good people deserve good friends. Well, Mr. Jim Wylie had many, many good friends. We have lost one of the good ones, as it has been said. My condolences and the condolences of this House go out to Marion Wylie and the Wylie children and grandchildren. Jim lived a long and a full life, but with his passing, many will now notice a hole in their lives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today in Fort Resolution, I would like to announce that... [Translation ends]
...some MLAs in the first day of sitting to set aside for remembering people in their ridings that have passed away between the sessions of this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the oldest person in Fort Resolution until the day of her passing on January 19, 2011. Victoria “Lidor” Lafferty was born on January 1, 1920, and passed away on January 19, 2011, at the age of 91. Lidor, as she was commonly known, had 12 children, three of which predeceased her, as did her late husband Edward “Kayuse” Lafferty. Mrs. Lafferty lived all of her life around Fort Resolution, having grown up on the land outside of Rocher River and I think spent some of her early days around Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Lafferty had 32 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren. In addition to raising her own children, she and her late husband raised a few of their grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, Lidor will be sadly missed by her children, grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and her great-great-grandchildren. You could always visit her in her home, which she resided in until her last day. She spoke only Chipewyan and as a result, her children all understand Chipewyan and many of them are totally fluent in the Chipewyan language. Her grandchildren that lived with her had to understand her also; otherwise they were not able to communicate with her. She understood English but responded to the children in Chipewyan.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this opportunity to pass my condolences on to the family and friends of Victoria “Lidor” Lafferty. God bless. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to take a moment to remember a constituent of Hay River South and long-time resident of Hay River, Mr. Henry Smith, who passed away on Saturday, January 29th, at the age of 77.
Henry and his wife, Angie, moved north from Saskatchewan in 1970. They built their home in Hay River, where they raised their nine children: Fred; Bernard, or Ben, as he’s called; Perry; Janne; Raphvel, or Rafe, as we call him; Day; Miles; Eddie; and Angie. These were their nine children and they all grew up in quite a small house just at the outskirts of Hay River.
Eddie is to be married this spring to Diana Yaeger, Mr. Speaker’s constituency assistant, and I’m sure that Henry not being there for such a family gathering and such a special occasion will be very felt by the Smith family.
Henry and Angie provided a spiritual home and a loving home for their family. Henry was well known and respected in the community and spent countless hours volunteering and serving others. Whether it was at church or working on the skidoo trails, he was a very hard-working and generous person. Henry enjoyed being outdoors, riding his motorcycle and skidooing. He is particularly well known for being the key person involved in creating the ski trails in Hay River, making signs for the trails to Enterprise and Great Slave Lake, which is now known as the Canada Trail.
Henry, by trade, was a heavy duty mechanic for highways, Department of Transportation for the Government of the Northwest Territories, from 1972 until he retired in 1995. He was a skilful mechanic and loved to work on machinery.
Mr. Speaker, I ran into Henry Smith at the airport just a couple of weeks ago and had a great visit with him as we reminisced about another mutual friend who had lived in Hay River for many years, Margurite Delancey, who had actually just passed away a few days prior. I did not know, from chatting with Henry and Angie that day, that Henry was as ill as he was. He was very, very sharp, he was cheerful, he was communicative and I was so surprised to hear of his passing when Rafe called me this past Saturday.
Mr. Speaker, Henry was a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather, and will be missed by everyone. I send my heartfelt condolences to the Smith family. Although no words can ease their pain, we hope that they will know that they are in our prayers and our thoughts today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current Wildlife Act is old and antiquated. It’s definitely time to be replaced with a new act that recognizes the realities of the North and is developed by the people of the North for the North.
Hear! Hear!
I know the department has been working on this new act for a long time, well over 10 years. However, the majority of the work on the existing act has been completed since the Assembly passed the Species at Risk Act two years ago. Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important to applaud the Minister and his department for recognizing treaty rights and land claim agreements, and for actively involving the Aboriginal governments throughout the NWT in drafting of this new act. They had a legal requirement to do this and I’m glad that the Minister and his department lived up to this responsibility. However, initial drafting is only the first step. The second step is to obtain public input. To do this, the department has been conducting public consultations throughout the Northwest Territories since before Christmas.
As a public government representing over 42,000 people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike, we have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that all of our residents are heard in a meaningful way, that their concerns are taken seriously and that their input to improve draft legislation is incorporated into the drafting of the legislation, where appropriate.
Unfortunately, I’m concerned that the consultation that has been conducted or completed over the last couple of months did not meet this standard. This was not consultation in good faith. For example, on January 15, 2011, the NWT Wildlife Federation had a meeting with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to receive a briefing on the proposed Wildlife Act and to discuss concerns they had with the department. I was there. This was supposed to be public consultation. The meeting did start off well, with the director of ENR’s wildlife division introducing the draft act, explaining it in detail and telling the participants that the department was eager for their input. Specifically, that the department asked the participants to identify the areas they thought needed work and to identify what they thought might help improve the draft. This sounds like the department was interested in meaningful, respectful consultation. Unfortunately, my optimism of the process disappeared later when the same director indicated that any input from this group would be included with all input that they have received over the last couple of months, but the department was not planning to make any substantive amendments prior to introducing the bill in the House later in February or early March. Only editorial improvements are being considered at this point.
Only including minor editorial amendments does not demonstrate that this department is listening to the people. It does not demonstrate consultation in good faith.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
In fact, it’s just insulting to responsible hunters of the Northwest Territories who are not covered by land claims or treaties. This group’s voice is clearly not being heard.
This act is not ready to be presented in the House. It won’t be ready until the department conducts real consultation in good faith with interested stakeholders throughout the Northwest Territories.
At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister responsible some questions on this topic.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories have been self-governing nations since time immemorial and also under Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, which established a nation-to-nation relationship between the Crown and the NWT First Nations that required the Government of Canada to respect Aboriginal rights and the Government of the Northwest Territories to ensure that we protect the rights and interests in any process that happens in the Northwest Territories.
The process of negotiation of the devolution agreement is flawed in how it was conducted. There were many agreements made in the past, most importantly through the Dene-Metis Land Claim Agreement, which clearly defined the Northern Accord process as the avenue we were going to take to provide themselves with not only ownership of lands and resources but also management requirements and arrangements though the claims and an opportunity to participate in the oil and gas arrangements throughout the Northwest Territories similar to those worded in the Inuvialuit agreement, which is not in the Dene-Metis claim.
The federal government has a treaty obligation, not only constitutionally but also under the land claims obligations and Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Involving Aboriginal governments is a matter of natural process and accommodating Aboriginal governments in the interests and the rights that they hold.
The land claims agreements are in place between the Gwich’in and the Sahtu and the Tlicho, and they have similar wording in all their agreements. With regard to the Tlicho Agreement under Section 23.5,1, and also in regard to the Sahtu Agreement under Section 22.1,6, the Gwich’in Agreement under Section 21.1.6, they clearly stipulate that the Government of the Northwest Territories shall involve the Aboriginal governments in development and implementation of a northern accord of oil and gas development in the Northwest Territories which is negotiated in accordance with the enabling agreement September 5, 1988, between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories, with regard to any other agreement and subject in regard to minerals, oil and gas, and also any transfer from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories.
The issues for Aboriginal governments should have been heard loud and clear. They do not have a problem with the devolution process. They have a problem...
Mr. Krutko, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
It is clear that the Aboriginal concerns by the Aboriginal governments were very specific with regard to the relationship between the federal government, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Aboriginal governments. The impact on devolution to the Government of the Northwest Territories on Aboriginal government jurisdiction and authority over lands and resources, both in settled areas and unsettled areas. More importantly, the inaccurate funding that’s going to be in regard to the net fiscal benefit and how that will affect programs and services not only for Aboriginal people but the rest of the people of the Northwest Territories, and also in a manner which is based on a basic transfer amount to be determined. How is that going to be distributed between the central government, Aboriginal governments and other entities in the Northwest Territories? Finally, that includes the federal government’s interest in the Norman Wells oilfield that is definitely defined in the land claims agreements. That is an issue that the Aboriginal governments have.
The items that I’ve mentioned are issues that the Aboriginal governments wanted to talk about. The government did not find the time of day and the federal Minister -- which is appalling with regard to our consensus type of government...
Would you conclude your statement, Mr. Krutko?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say to the people in my region and to a lot of people in the Northwest Territories who contacted me over the last couple of months, I’m certainly glad to be alive today.
---Applause
I want to express my appreciation to the people who have made phone calls to me, who have talked to my wife. I really listened to some of the Members who made condolences to some of their own constituents who have passed away and people who have passed away in the past, and certainly my own people in the Sahtu region, of some of the difficulties that we as people go through when a loved one passes away.
Yet we still have a job to do. We still have to stand there and hold it together and continue on and make decisions. Sometimes, when I saw the anguish and the hurt in my wife’s face or my little boy’s face, I was really scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I guess the big guy upstairs didn’t want me today, because he said, go back down there and do some more work. That’s the way I look at it. Or someone saying, I’m glad we’re not talking about you, we’re still talking with you.
These kinds of things wake me up in terms of how life is taken for granted sometimes. I look at that and I wanted to say to the people of the Northwest Territories, we really appreciate the phone calls and the prayers that the elders said. Prayers are so powerful today that when I went into my region, I wanted to thank the elders and the people who came up to me and said, we prayed for you, we prayed for you things would work out well for you, we also prayed for people in our meetings that things will work out good for them. There are people right now in the hospital that need our prayers and we need to think about those situations.
I want to say thank you to the hospital and the wonderful staff in the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife for really helping me out here and helping my family. Also for the Members here I wanted to also say I appreciated the time off to recover. However, I want to also say that life goes on. I’m back up in good form again and going to be representing my people in this Assembly, hopefully for a long, long time to come.
I want to say I really appreciate my family and I really appreciate especially my little boy.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all Members when I say we’re happy to be talking with you and not about you as well.
The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker... [Translation] I am pleased to be able to talk to you today on things that are very important to my region. We have to work with all the people that are coming after us, so we have to talk seriously and consider our devolution seriously. I will be switching back to South Slavey. [Translation ends]
…resources to the GNWT are of great importance for my constituents in my riding of Nahendeh. Much can be said and there are many topic areas. However, the leadership in the communities of the Dehcho First Nations have great concern because of the uncertainty of how it will affect the Dehcho process.
As I travelled throughout my riding there were many questions of the impact of our GNWT signing the AIP, and I must say as well that there were many that understood the process and what it means for them and for all Northerners. However, I found that there were more people concerned at the speed of the signing and not having any information on the implications of the AIP until after its signing. There were also many concerns about the terms of the agreement itself. Sometimes our government has initiatives that could be a good thing, but if there’s enough public outcry or if it’s implemented badly, then it can be a bad thing.
Mr. Speaker, people in my communities want to see government travel around to the communities and explain this agreement-in-principle on devolution. People cannot make informed decisions, Mr. Speaker, if our government does not provide the opportunity and information, especially something as significant as this. I have noted that the Wildlife Act information sessions went to all 33 communities, and I believe that a decision of this magnitude that binds us for the future must get outside of Yellowknife and into all our communities. It is then and only then that people can be truly informed and make an informed decision, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I speak today on the process that led to the devolution agreement-in-principle to take stock of where this leaves us now and consider where we go from here.
The Akaitcho and Dehcho governments will have nothing to do with an agreement they say threatens their treaty rights and resolution of their claims. Some say the process used to complete the AIP violates the terms of the Gwich’in, Sahtu and Tlicho agreements. The GNWT’s and Canada’s rush to sign the AIP has resulted in such confusion that concerns about content, process, or both remain unclear. Aboriginal opponents say the GNWT should never have agreed to negotiate without the First Nations at the table, while our government claims they were meaningfully involved all along, implying that Aboriginal partners were aware of and accepted negotiation points.
Yet we signed onto a federal divide and conquer strategy, a bilateral agreement that clearly does not sit well with our partners. At the very least, such a strategy reflects poorly on this government’s relations with its Aboriginal partners. If they were at the table and involved, how could we have created a situation where some of the fiercest critics that this government has, say that this government has destroyed trust and partnership that has taken years to build? That’s where we are now; right where we knew we’d be if we’d went ahead with this agreement in this way.
But what lies ahead? I and many others are on record saying that any deal to download an inadequate, underfunded and unrepresentative federal system is a bad deal. To move forward on a sound basis, we must do three things: first, go back to the basics with our Aboriginal government partners, insisting upon the full, main table participation their position deserves and salvage some mutual respect and common vision for the future; second, cut ourselves loose from any federal scheme to settle our constitutional future piecemeal; and finally, Mr. Speaker, take the time necessary to involve all our citizens in meaningful consultation on what our resource management regime should be.
Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal governments are major landholders and, as such, an essential partner of a sound, comprehensive and sustainable NWT land and resource management system. Before we have an agreement-in-principle we must all agree on the principles. I look forward to seeing this resolved in the immediate future. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like many of my other colleagues, I too will be speaking about the AIP devolution agreement today.
This agreement signed, I believe, is a great forward-thinking step in the destiny of all Northerners. It’s about many things, but in my view, it’s most importantly about one thing: it’s about the transference of authority to Northerners. As northern people, we are ready to claim that future. This is about who is guiding the course of our future collectively. It’s about who is making the decisions of the northern future.
I’d like to see someone in the North making those types of decisions, rather than someone in Ottawa who’s never been here more than for a day visit. Or even worse, can you imagine our decisions to be continued to be made by a steward whose only knowledge of the northern people, the culture and the belief system up here is based on a one-page briefing note?
The North has a destiny to assert, Mr. Speaker. One of the many people that feel very strongly and who I constantly hear from are Aboriginal people who want to assert the destiny of the North together, collectively. I think this government needs to do whatever it can to ensure that they continue to be partners as we assert this future together. But it’s a mandate we must not work alone.
Mr. Speaker, the signing of the AIP was one of many small steps going forward, but the motions of those steps were put into place over 40 years ago. The shaping of our North will continue over many more years going forward and this AIP is just one small piece. Some people say not this deal. Well, I’ll tell you, it took a long time to carve out this deal. So it won’t take weeks, months; it will take, rather, years or decades before we get back into the same position we are today.
Mr. Speaker, some people complain there isn’t enough money. Well, the reality is no devolution agreement will ever have enough money.
Some say they were not included, not all issues, not all rights. Well, I say you should never give up on the priorities of all Northerners. So once we conclude this chapter, we should start fighting and working on the next one. We should never surrender on the rights and the destiny to empower Northerners.
Mr. Speaker, the issue here before us is uncertainty; the details of clarification of what’s actually been happening. Mr. Speaker, if there’s been fault to this whole process, it is that the message of communication has not gone out to every corner of the North to explain what this agreement does for our lives and how it improves it. Mr. Speaker, in my belief, this agreement does not impede our future, it strengthens it. Mr. Speaker, that is the solution of this AIP, and I believe much work needs to continue to be done on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about devolution and the recent signing of the agreement-in-principle.
Mr. Speaker, this is and will be the way forward for this Territory and for the people who live here. What will devolution mean for our Territory? It will mean authority and control over the direction and decisions related to resource management. It will mean a transfer of close to 200 jobs from Ottawa. It will mean that finally, after years of fighting for a piece of our vast resource wealth with the federal government, we will be getting millions of dollars annually to help build and strengthen our Territory, our communities, our economy and our people. We will finally be able to be the masters of our own design.
Mr. Speaker, we must continue to work with our Aboriginal partners in pursuing a final agreement. I understand and appreciate the concerns that have been expressed by Aboriginal leaders across the Territory in how our AIP has proceeded. I do remain optimistic that we can find a way to work together. We have to move forward, and it should be stated that clearly this AIP is moving this Territory forward. The question, Mr. Speaker, is that once we have a final deal, the jobs, the money and the authority, what are we going to do with this new found money and control?
Mr. Speaker, I, along with my colleague from the Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko, have been part of the Northern Leaders’ Forum representing the Regular Members of this House. The main objective for the Northern Leaders’ Forum is to come up with a way forward on how governments across the Territory can work together and represent our Territory in advancing our collective well-being and to form a common vision for what our Territory will become. Now, more than ever before, Mr. Speaker, we need to be working together. We need to do the best job we can as legislators to articulate what devolution will mean to our Territory. To me, Mr. Speaker, this is what future governments must focus on: sustainable, responsible resource development that maximizes opportunities for training and employment opportunities for our people; developing our vast hydro potential; developing in a real and meaningful way our forest industry; opening up our Territory to the development of the Mackenzie Gas Project and the huge potential for exploration and development of our petroleum industry, a Territory that leads the way in the management of our water, our wildlife and our environment.
Mr. Ramsay, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
