Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Dene people and their leaders are feeling very under-represented by this government with respect to the Premier signing the agreement-in-principle on lands and resources. Mr. Speaker, whose land are we talking about? The original landowners for most of this great Territory are Dene. In the Akaitcho Territory, land claim negotiations with the federal government are far from being settled and yet this government, with the federal government support, wants to take control of Dene land and resources before these negotiations to be completed. Mr. Speaker, yes, it comes with a promise: we will give you back some of the land when you complete your negotiations with the federal government.
Mr. Speaker, the track record of such promises to the Dene is not good. This promise does not sit well with the Dene leadership in Tu Nedhe and Akaitcho. The Akaitcho said that once things are signed off, it is very difficult to delete or add to the final agreement. No wonder, Mr. Speaker. When this government, who sits on land claim negotiation tables, the leaders in Tu Nedhe and elsewhere tell me that the GNWT negotiators are harder to make progress with than the federal government negotiators. It will get even worse as this government takes control of the land and resources in the regions with unsettled land claims.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT trying to achieve devolution is not the problem as long as it’s with the Aboriginal governments. The land and resources of the Northwest Territories should be managed by our own governments. We can do a better job than is being done now. The problem is that this government is not including all of the citizens in this work, only some.
Mr. Speaker, we see that most Aboriginal governments, from one end of the Territory to the other, feel left out. They are not signing the AIP. Even in regions with settled land claims, most Aboriginal leaders refuse to sign the AIP. They, too, say it is not a good deal for them and the people they represent. There are too many uncertainties.
I have not listed all the reasons, Mr. Speaker, but here are a few:
Mr. Beaulieu, your time for your Member’s statements has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, this AIP has damaged relationships between Aboriginal, territorial and federal governments; the federal resource revenue is much larger; the share of federal resource revenue is much larger than both the Aboriginal and territorial governments’ share.
Our cost of regulating development could easily be much more than the federal government will transfer to pay for it. So in the future we as a GNWT and the Aboriginal governments could be facing costs that we cannot cover. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I was lucky enough to witness a little bit of history, a big piece of history for the NWT. Of course, I refer to the signing of the devolution agreement-in-principle last Wednesday. I fully support the principle of devolution and I believe that it was right to sign the agreement, but I am deeply troubled by the deep divide between the GNWT and the Aboriginal governments that has resulted from this event.
This relationship break has been building for some time, Mr. Speaker, and hindsight is 20/20, but we can now see that the Premier has failed with the Regional Leaders’ Forum process. He’s failed to adequately communicate with NWT residents about the AIP. We’re left with uninformed opinions, opposing views, entrenched positions and mistrust all across the Territory. Residents and community leaders are searching for the facts, real and valid info, wanting to be reassured, to find something they can believe in. I think our people are now dazed and confused, to quote a movie title from 1993. They don’t know who to believe and they’re looking for the real answers.
Earlier this week the Premier was asked about his and the government’s plans to explain the AIP and the next steps in devolution to NWT residents. From his answers, it seems that there will be letters to regional leaders, an info bulletin mailed out to NWT households, and advertising and info through the media. I have major concerns about this communication plan. History has proven to us that these tactics do not work.
Mr. Menicoche suggested the other day that the Premier needs to take this issue on the road, that his constituents want face-to-face communication. I could not agree more with this approach. That’s what’s missing in the Premier’s plan: the personal element. There needs to be conversation with our residents, not at them. There needs to be a travelling road show on devolution and the AIP to every one of our 33 communities. Sure, it’s a big job, a time-consuming job, but if the Premier truly believes that all parties should be at the devolution negotiations table and he truly desires to fix these broken relationships to get us out of the mess we’re in, then he will put a better communication plan in motion and he will reach out in person to our residents. He cannot wait for invitations, a part of the plan he described the other day, to go and visit leaders and communities. He must actively pursue contact with our residents eye to eye.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to talk about the devolution process and the lack of coordination, consultation and respect that our Aboriginal leadership should get from a government-to-government relationship.
The Gwich’in Tribal Council submitted a letter dated April 19th last year to the government on issues that they felt had to be discussed prior to a devolution agreement-in-principle going forward. The agreement was signed, as we know, last September, with no consultation and now I’ve received a letter from the Premier to Mr. Nerysoo, some seven months after they received the letter, outlining their concerns and issues that they felt had to be addressed through the devolution process.
Consultation, negotiations and involvement mean sitting at a table and being full participants in those negotiations, not simply observers sitting on the sidelines or being consulted every once in awhile. I think it’s fundamental to improve the relationship between the Government of the Northwest Territories and its Aboriginal leaders by way of formulating a meeting ASAP, even on this weekend or whatever is coming up, to find a way to improve that relationship.
The relationship between the Aboriginal leaders and the Aboriginal communities in the Northwest Territories is at an all-time low in the history of the Northwest Territories and its political development. I believe this government has done more harm to that relationship through this agreement-in-principle and trying to push something forward for the sake of trying to come up with an agreement without really understanding the implications and effects on the people of the Northwest Territories and the Aboriginal leadership.
At the appropriate time I will be having questions for the Premier regarding his correspondence between himself and Mr. Nerysoo.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
