I don’t know if I can put it better than you did. You spoke very nicely about Gay Kennedy and Verna Currimbhoy.
I’d like to recognize Gay Kennedy for her hard work here for the last two years. I’ve gotten to know her very well and I respect the work that she’s done in this government, as well as the fact that she’ll be a stalwart force who is missed. She’s done a lot of work over the years and I know that her works and efforts can’t be replaced.
Verna Currimbhoy, as you’ve mentioned as well, is leaving us and, as I understand it, she’ll soon be moving to Saskatoon where her granddaughter is now located and will be back into grandmother duties full time. She will be sadly missed by many of us and certainly by myself and I appreciate all the hard work that she’s provided.
The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.
I would like to, as well, recognize Verna Currimbhoy. Our time together -- myself, Premier Roland, the Member for Mackenzie Delta and the Member for Hay River South -- goes back to the last century.
---Laughter
Pre-division. We’ve all had the opportunity to work with Verna during some very interesting times in this Assembly. I’d like to wish her all the best, and as well best wishes to Gay Kennedy.
The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize Verna Currimbhoy. She has been a wonderful assistant to us as Regular Members, especially those from out of town as we come here often without our assistants and she’s there to back us up.
I would also like to thank, particularly for this last couple of years, Gay Kennedy, who stepped into the role of director of research and attended all of our Priorities and Planning meetings of the Regular Members. After many of the dialogues we would just look at her and say, you know, did you get that? Can you do something with that? And she just works her magic. She was a wonderful asset to our committee. Thank you to her.
The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.
It gives me great pleasure to recognize in the gallery my wife, Judy, my daughter Kimberly, and two of my three jewels, my grandchildren, Rylan and Reese Wainman. Welcome.
The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize a couple of the Pages that have been working for us over the last couple of weeks from the Great Slave riding: Alison Buckland and Desiree Brown. Pages do important work for us and we all appreciate what they do.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to recognize Verna and Gay, as well, and thank them so much for all they’ve done for us over the last two years for Gay and three years for Verna. That’s how long I’ve been here. Thank you both so very much.
The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
I, too, would like to recognize Ms. Verna Currimbhoy. As one of the MLAs from the region who comes here to work 50 percent of the time, I might add.
The amount of work that she does on my behalf is invaluable. She will be sorely missed and she just makes my office run very smoothly.
As well, special recognition to Gay Kennedy. It’s a pleasure to serve with her on our committees, and all the work that she does on our behalf as well.
The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
I’d like to recognize the leadership from Deline. I’ll go through the list here: Mr. Peter Menacho, president of the Deline Land Corporation; Morris Neyelle; Paul Modeste, who’s from Russell Bay; elder Alfred Taniton; former Chief Dolphus Baton; band manager, if she’s there, Pauline Roach; Chief Raymond Tutcho; elder John Yukon; member from Deline, Russell Kenny and Danny Gaudet.
Also I’d like to recognize two of the Pages from Tulita’s Chief Albert Wright School: Jordan Lennie and Erica MacCauley.
I’d also like to say thank you to Verna and Gay for all their hard work for the Members who come from out of town to the Leg. here.
The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
I also want to recognize the hard work and dedication of the two employees who are being recognized today. Ms. Currimbhoy, we’ll miss your smiling face around the second floor of the building, that’s for sure. I wish her all the best in her retirement.
And to Gay Kennedy, I think the last two years have been a well-run ship with Ms. Kennedy at the helm of our research department, and I want to wish her every success and all the best, too, in her retirement.
As well, I want to recognize all the visitors in the gallery: Chief Raymond Tutcho from Deline, and also my friends, Danny Gaudet and Peter Menacho. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to stand up today and thank Ms. Gay Kennedy for all the hard work that she’s done with myself and working on our Member’s statements and making sure they’re concise and to the point. Then for Ms. Verna Currimbhoy for the last three years here. As soon as you walk in the door, she’s right there, did you get this, did you get that, just like having my mother.
---Laughter
She’s done a lot of hard work for us, a lot of hard work for Nunakput, and the people of Nunakput want to thank you, Verna. I hope you enjoy your retirement.
I’d also like to recognize Mr. Peter Menacho and Danny Gaudet, good friends. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize a couple of individuals in the House. Verna certainly has been great as the first person I get a cheery good morning from every day. I also want to recognize her as an amazing citizen. I see her working in Bailey House at the swap shop, and she’s a major recycler in town and involved in all kinds of volunteer activities. Gay Kennedy, I think Gay knows that all the Members are really great people here, but I have to admit, at times we must be challenging to work with. I really appreciate the two solid years she’s put in on our behalf. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to congratulate Thomas Manuel Sr. He is 73 years old and a well-respected elder in Fort Good Hope. His bravery was recently celebrated by the Governor General of Canada, David Johnson. It was a great honour and the people of the Sahtu region are proud of Mr. Manuel. He received a Medal of Bravery for protecting his wife and three grandchildren from an armed intruder three years ago. People across the Northwest Territories remember this incident well. It was widely covered in the media. A young man broke into Mr. Manuel’s house. He had a shotgun and he used it. Mr. Manuel was actually shot in the face, neck and stomach. He was badly hurt and spent weeks in the hospital in Edmonton. It took weeks of surgery to remove 23 pellets of buckshot from Mr. Manuel’s body, including two that damaged his left eye. Mr. Manuel also received a letter from this Premier on behalf of this government. This elder truly deserves this Medal of Bravery and we honour your name in this House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my questions earlier today and ask questions of the Premier as the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.
The proceeding on with the AIP with the agreement of our aboriginal government partners is not a good start to the process nor a desired start, I know. The decision by the Premier to proceed without agreement and in the face of clear condemnation from aboriginal governments not only sours these beginnings, it could seriously damage the long-term prospects of ever reaching an amicable partnership.
To complete this work we need a respective, collaborative relationship with willing and engaged aboriginal partners. Does the Premier realize the long-term and future consequences should he take this unilateral, much criticized action? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No doubt, as the Premier of the Northwest Territories, as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, yes, I know just exactly how important this agreement is to the Northwest Territories, to the GNWT, to aboriginal governments and to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
I was speaking about the consequences to the future, and I’m sure that’s what the Premier was responding to.
The Premier claims the AIP is a good deal for the NWT and for aboriginal government partners who may eventually sign on, and it looks good to me. I have to wonder why, though, if this is such a good deal, our aboriginal partners are not already signed on and moving towards the strength in numbers that the partnership could bring to this. Obviously, we’re not there yet. I realize there are meetings scheduled for this evening and I hope that’s not the only step that the Premier is going to take towards really dealing with this. Recognizing that we really need the willingness and approval of our aboriginal partners, will the Premier listen to the criticism, pull back from his with-or-without-you stance, and take the time necessary to do the groundwork for a good deal on the agreement so we can go forward with this AIP? Mahsi.
Let’s put the full context on the table. As we’ve been trying to say and as I’ve said in many of my statements today, this process has been nine years in the making, that has involved aboriginal governments and will continue to do so if they want to move with us. We have to yet make a decision if we proceed with this or not. But let’s be clear. If a decision is not to proceed, there are no more discussions to be had, because the AIP has been signed off by the negotiators who have reached their mandate. So it is time for decisions of the North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Of course, I would say that’s sort of illogical. That’s simply a negotiating position. I’m all for getting this AIP through, but it has to meet these conditions. I won’t say that the Minister is absolutely false there, but clearly his logic is lacking, perhaps, in the conclusion.
Respecting northern values requires that those affected by a new regime, which is every citizen of the NWT, has an opportunity to comment and participate in developing our political future. Assuming resource management power is the single biggest political issue at this stage of our movement towards provincehood, will the Premier commit to a timely, comprehensive and inclusive consultation process involving all NWT governments and citizens in identifying our unique values as the basis for a northern management regime? Mahsi.
Now, I guess -- and I’ll have to tread carefully here -- that the Member’s logic sometimes might be well placed, but I wonder where it goes at times. If we want to play that game, we can. But the simple fact is, in this forum where we are nine years-plus working… The Member for Mackenzie Delta raises the Northern Accord, raises the Dene-Metis comprehensive process. Years in working together in trying to move authority from Ottawa to the North. This is the time for a still, stable approach as we try to progress on and allow aboriginal governments to have their time to look at the deal as it was penned by the two chief negotiators. We’ve been doing the same and now we get to have a meeting, at least to start the direct discussion about some of the issues and concerns that have been raised publicly between the leadership, and we will continue to be working and incorporating that approach as we look to the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will give up on the logic bit here, but I’ll just say that the many years the Premier talks about has been the time during which, thanks to our aboriginal partners, we have made considerable and great progress towards benefits that accrue to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Our history shows that Northerners have high standards for the way our government should cooperate with all citizens in building a sustainable future. We are patient and we make progress towards our goals one step at a time, regardless of barriers to the obvious and big steps we would like to see happen. We have learned that we must take the time needed…
Do you have a question, Mr. Bromley?
Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to our demonstrated principles of inclusion and patient perseverance and take the time needed to build the consensus needed on this motion for an issue before us today, the AIP? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I believe, during the life of the 16th Legislative Assembly we have shown that patience. We have shown a commitment for inclusion; in fact, establishing the regional leaders’ table which will be meeting later on today to discuss the AIP issue. The fact that as this government took over, announced, to the displeasure of some, that we were prepared to put it on the backburner -- it being the devolution resource revenue sharing process -- put it on the backburner until we as Northerners can talk about a common ground and working together. In the meantime, during those talks, during those meetings, the leadership asked for that issue to be brought back to the table. That has been done. The federal government has engaged.
This process is not new. We have to come to a place where we need to make a decision together. I have followed through on my commitment as I told Members here when we first brought the AIP forward. There is a process. We are going to honour that process and only standing up to put factual information on the table about that process. In the spirit of working together in the Northwest Territories, we are continuing on with an example of that by this evening’s meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the same thought of the AIP and the draft agreement that has been put forward for consideration by us as Members, by leadership out there in our regions, by aboriginal governments, Mr. Speaker, the AIP, the agreement-in-principle that the Premier and Deputy Premier will travel to Edmonton to discuss with aboriginal leaders and regional leaders tonight. When we leave here, they will go down there. Mr. Speaker, will the signing of that agreement conclude our negotiations or is this just the beginning? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It will not conclude the discussions. In fact, I believe it will be the place for those future discussions and concerns that are being raised since the airing by CBC of the draft agreement-in-principle that it allows, in fact, to bring closure to those concerns that are being raised.
It is a continuation process. It is not the final step in decision-making. In fact, I believe the future Government of the Northwest Territories and the future aboriginal governments within a number of years will have to make a final decision as to that final agreement that would have to come forward. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, by the signing of the agreement-in-principle -- which is exactly what it is called, as the Premier has described -- put us as Northerners in a better position to put some detail and some real parameters to what we will have as a government when devolution and resource revenue... We can talk about it now at this stage. We can talk about it after the agreement-in-principle is signed. What is the advantage of the agreement-in-principle in terms of our relationship with Ottawa and seeing some advancement on this agreement? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think the history would show that there are a number of times in the history of the Northwest Territories that we knew and grew up with that the governments, aboriginal and public government, have come to a place -- sometimes it has been just aboriginal governments -- of a decision needing to be made. There has been much reference at times to the Dene-Metis comprehensive process, the Northern Accord. Those got to the place, I believe, where the AIP is now, but never got the ratification to go the next step. They were referred to many times, but there was no vote to say yes, we will go forward on this basis. There were discussions. There were memorandums of intent, but never got beyond that. That is the place we are today with this AIP. It is the process we would go to the final set of negotiations and then a final decision being made by the governments of the North, aboriginal and public. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, embarking on a regime and on an agreement with Ottawa of this magnitude, of this significance, of this importance to the people of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if, when he attends this meeting tonight, he will extend to all leaders of governments of the Northwest Territories the sentiment and respect of this House that we are concerned about moving forward together with a unified voice and extend to them the message that we are mature enough that we should trust each other enough to be able to embark on this thing that has been sought for so long. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, absolutely. As I meet with the aboriginal leadership this evening, we will express the fact that we want to continue to work together with an approach that is focused from the North for Northerners. Right now there are many examples, even in a statement earlier today, about decisions being made in Ottawa that have a direct impact on Northerners; the work on regulatory reform by the special negotiator named by a Minister in Ottawa. Those things are ongoing today and will affect land claims as they are written. We are working on a process together to say, let’s go hand in hand, arm in arm and move forward on this agreement-in-principle where, for example, Chapter 6 was jointly written by aboriginal governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I noted in the devolution process, there is also, I believe it is Section 12 of that agreement which clearly identified that this government could not remove itself from federal obligations in which the obligations the federal government has under ensuring that those commitments they make under land claims agreements have to be fulfilled and that they are not going to be basically simply diminished. I think that is the concern of a lot of the aboriginal groups that do have land claims. We have economic measures. We have surface resource sections. We have protected areas. We have things in agreement that this government has an obligation to implement, but refuses to. I think that is the issue that aboriginal people have. How can we trust the government, yet on the existing land claim agreements where obligations are clearly spelled out in black and white, they are not being fulfilled? I would like to ask the Premier, in light of his comments that the aboriginal groups aren’t going to get anything more than what they have in their land claims agreement, is that the position of this government?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s interesting the Member would take comments I said in discussing this draft agreement and twist them to match what he would like to present to the public of the Northwest Territories. Let’s be factual here. The fact is I stated to Members, and I will state here for the public, the land claims that have been signed are protected. The language of the AIP will continue to honour that protection. In fact, the AIP has it on the table. The aboriginal governments helped write the one very important chapter that will create the ongoing government-to-government relationship in the future with aboriginal governments. The existing claims in place -- and the Member is well aware of it because he was at those tables when they were put in place -- the fact is that there is a resource revenue sharing component to those land claims, and they are signed, and they are being honoured, and they are receiving resource throughout that agreement. The AIP would bring additional monies to the tables not only for the GNWT but for the aboriginal governments as well.
