Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, was very interested in the news report this morning that saw a former Premier question the AIP and the way forward for this government. Mr. Speaker, it came across as being negative and blatantly self-serving, if I can say so. It got me to thinking that here’s a former Premier talking about a deal like this and where does that leave the public that’s out there in the Northwest Territories? What are they to believe? So I guess the first question I have, Mr. Speaker, is I’d like to ask the Premier how he is going to take this deal out to the people of the Northwest Territories to show them that it’s a good deal for the Government of the Northwest Territories and a good deal for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, it is disappointing to have the media jump on this before we’ve had an opportunity as governments that are directly involved to allow the process to flow. We are in a process where we have to evaluate how we now inform the public, but again I go back to the fact that this agreement-in-principle is a starting point if we decide it needs to go forward. It is a starting point to a series of negotiations that then we will be able to get out to the public and let them know what is on the table and what we’re trying to do on that process. In the meantime, I’ve instructed the staff within the Executive to begin looking at our options of trying to get factual information out to the public and not just listen to the one-sided questions being put out there. Thank you.
I support the government, I support the Premier in their efforts, in his efforts to try to get signatories to that deal, to get it done for the people of the Northwest Territories. We need jobs, we need opportunities and we need some prosperity here in our Territory and I think this is a great way to kick-start that effort.
I’d like to ask the Premier, given the fact -- and I know, Mr. Speaker, you’ve cautioned some Members today about speaking about the specifics of the AIP -- I’m wondering if I could ask the Premier if his intention is to table that document in this House so that we can have a good, clear and frank discussion on its merits in Committee of the Whole? Thank you.
Although it’s put out in the public, it’s interesting, I believe, as it first went out, CBC said it’s out there, but it’s still a confidential document. I don’t know how they could put that disclaimer in there. We have a process and we’re trying to honour that process. There are other partners involved in this and I want to respect them, being the aboriginal governments and the federal government. At some point we’ll have to make a decision on how we go forward. The typical process we’re involved in is laid out. It’s the normal practice. We’ll continue to use that.
I think the more important question becomes the time when an agreement, a final agreement is ready to be ratified. How then do you take it out and have that type of broad, overall debate?
I can recall in my previous years as a Member of the Legislative Assembly the Tlicho act that came forward establishing the self-government and our role in that. That’s when we had a debate in the House and motions were passed accepting that legislation. So I would see that being somewhat similar, when we actually have a document that we can ratify and decide if it’s good enough to move forward on. At this point we are trying to get to a place where we start a final set of negotiations. Thank you.
In an effort to kind of clear things up, the Premier was the former Finance Minister in the last government and much has been made of the deal in ‘07 and the new one that is before us, the AIP. Can the Premier just elaborate a little bit on why the deal in 2007 was not signed and was not ratified? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. That’s actually a question asking a question of the former government. I don’t know if the Premier wants to make any comment on it, but he doesn’t have to answer that one on an initiative of the former government. Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t talk about what the result was or decisions made. All I can put out is the fact that in 2007 the Government of the Northwest Territories, along with four partners, signed an agreement, sent it in to Ottawa, and in fact I would say that the agreement that is before us today has improved upon that deal. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll try to stay away from numbers, but obviously when you’re looking at transferring, say, hundreds of jobs to the Northwest Territories, you’re going to have to negotiate a number. Obviously our negotiators aren’t going to be working with the federal government on some numbers that are woefully inadequate. I’d like to ask the Premier, on the ‘A’ Base, and that’s the funding for programs, how was the proposed number substantiated in the AIP?
That is a fair bit of detail that we’d go into, but the fact is we as a government have the work done to look at the delivery in today’s environment. Leading up to 2007, the government-of-the-day did that work. We also looked at that work and the consideration of what really needs to be done in the North was also put in place, a business case, and the negotiations around the AIP began in that manner. We have looked at those jobs. We have looked at what needs to be delivered and built the negotiation based on that. As I pointed out, the chief negotiators of both sides have signed a letter now, saying they’ve hit their mandates and it’s now time for a decision to be made.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
