Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Premier today. It is getting back to my Member’s statement where I talked about the signing of the AIP and what the future holds for our Territory. I also mentioned in my Member’s statement that I am a member of the Northern Leaders’ Forum and I have some questions to the Premier about the future of the Northern Leaders’ Forum and whether or not the Premier sees that as a vehicle to try to bring Aboriginal leaders and other leaders from across the Territory to the table so that we can talk about what the Territory is going to look like post-devolution and what really we have here at stake and what the opportunities are for all governments in our Territory going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northern Leaders’ Forum got its life out of the Regional Leaders’ Table as it was through the Regional Leaders’ Table where we set up the side group to include leaders from across the North, look at a common vision. We had a meeting following or just prior to the AIP process. Not all of the people who were involved initially were able to attend as they were preparing for the agreement-in-principle process. With what we received, our partners were there. We were incorporating their work, for those that submitted documentation. We are going to send that out to the leaders who weren’t there, to see if they will provide input on what was provided and hope to have another meeting sometime in the spring. We haven’t ironed out that date as of yet.
As for our process forward, I believe it can be one of those avenues where we build on the strength that we have as a Territory and look at all the pros that present themselves in a sense of...as well as the challenges that present themselves as a result of the signing and how we need to proceed. I think that can be incorporated as we look to the future of what it means to have now the authority, once that is drawn down. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have always been supportive of the Northern Leaders’ Forum and trying to come up with a common vision, a way to work together with other governments in the Territory to move this Territory forward.
During my Member’s statement and also the Premier in his sessional statement today alluded to all the good things that can come out of this agreement. I think we have lost so much, Mr. Speaker, in fighting with the federal government, fighting with ourselves for the past 20 years, and at some point in time I think we have to start putting numbers on paper, talking about what the opportunities are, talking about what we have lost and what we stand to gain. That is every government here in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Premier if the government can look at putting some of that work together so that we can sit down and talk about what the future does hold. We need to get the leaders back to the table. April might be a little too far away, Mr. Speaker. I think it should happen sooner than later. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the April meeting or the spring meeting we are talking about, Northern Leaders’ Forum, is to do with the work that was presented and we sent that back out. As I committed earlier, the regional leaders and the chiefs in the communities, we’re going to get a letter out if not by the end of the day, first thing tomorrow to the leaders to ask for a meeting specifically to do with this phase of the agreement-in-principle, how we can work together going forward. We are reaching out. As stated, we would rather have all the groups sign on and stand together as we do some of this work as it is going to be required of us in the very near future. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the signing of the AIP and eventually a final agreement with the federal government on devolution and resource revenue sharing is absolutely a game changer here in the Northwest Territories. I think going forward, coming up with a vision prior to the signing of the AIP and even the thought of us having a final agreement, that vision would look much different than a vision that I think we can come up with today that is post-devolution, post-resource revenue sharing here in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Premier, that’s changed, and how can we articulate or how can we get our message out to the leaders across the Territories on what these opportunities are post-devolution for everybody? Thank you.
Thank you. I believe there’s a number of ways we can do that and as we set out a roadmap for the next steps we need to take since the signing of the agreement-in-principle and the work that we need to do in negotiations, and that we can pull that type of information together to show people what It could look like as we go forward. The challenges there are sometimes what we want to negotiate in the final deal might not be exactly as we’ve presented, so we have to be careful there as well. But we do know some of the facts based on our net fiscal benefit discussions, for example. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s things like that that will go a long way to helping people to come to the table. If you look just recently, the numbers on exploration dollars spent in the three territories, we’re $60 million behind exploration money spent in the Yukon, we’re $180 million behind Nunavut, we need to be looking at opportunities to get investment in our Territory, and I think investment in our Territories means something for all governments here in the Northwest Territories, and I think as much information we can pull together, the better off we’ll be in these discussions. So, again, I’d like to thank the Premier for his efforts in that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. I didn’t hear a question there. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
