Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for Premier McLeod, following my Member’s Statement where I spoke about my disappointment that yet again this government has acted in a way inconsistent with the tenets of consensus government, this time in the formation and work of the Intergovernmental Council on Land and Resource Management. Despite assurances from the Premier, MLAs had no input into the terms of reference and have no observer status.
Why, despite specific requests to and obligations of the Premier, were MLAs left completely outside of the room of the Intergovernmental Council discussions on terms of reference when these important items were discussed?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did bring forward a request from the MLAs to the Intergovernmental Council. I think it’s important to recognize that the Intergovernmental Council is intended to foster improved cooperation and collaboration on land and resource management issues, and each government will continue to represent its own interests and the independent jurisdictions of each government are untouched. So, ultimately, the accountabilities of each government must remain. So on this Intergovernmental Council there’s the Government of the Northwest Territories and at least seven Aboriginal governments, and when the question was posed to them, the council felt that it would not be beneficial for them to have observers. They asked if they could have observer status in our committee meetings. So, as I indicated to committee, the Intergovernmental Council is very interested in meeting on an annual basis with standing committee or Caucus or what have you.
The Premier just explained how he contravened the consensus government, given that the mandate of this council is that every government sticks to their own authorities, and the authority of the Premier is to require a consensus approach.
He also mentioned that others requested observer status, and I have absolutely no problem and we told the Premier this – I certainly told the Premier this – that the meetings should be open and transparent for any elected officials. So why did he not say yes?
I spoke about the apparent overlap of responsibility of the Intergovernmental Council and this House. Given that the Intergovernmental Council is making decisions such as priority of legislation, apparently, and who knows what else behind closed doors, the authorities and MLAs are being arbitrarily usurped or undermined. Decisions are now apparently made on behalf of this House by a brand new quasi-government structure that has had essentially no democratic review, the Intergovernmental Council.
How does the Premier see the mandate of Regular Members vis-à-vis the decisions of the Intergovernmental Council?
The Member is suggesting that there is conspiracy behind every door, but that’s certainly not the case. The Intergovernmental Council, as we’ve laid out, will take a lead on legislative and policy matters related to land that they identify. These are issues that the Aboriginal governments feel are important for them to understand may emanate from their land claim agreements, because in order to be part of the Intergovernmental Council you have to be recognized as an Aboriginal government and to be an Aboriginal government you have to have a land claim or be negotiating at a land claim table.
So the way it works is that the Intergovernmental Council is not a replacement for the processes governments have and which governments must follow when it comes to legislative or policy development. So I don’t see it interfering in any way with the work of the Legislative Assembly or consensus government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I should be clear that I support the concept of an Intergovernmental Council if it’s transparent and clear. It’s not transparent and clear, and the Premier’s minions do not understand, because they’re telling us that the Intergovernmental Council is setting priorities which are the responsibility of this House. That’s the example I raised.
As an elected representative of the people, when I look at the Premier’s push to give away and limit our right to authority without any democratic review still, I have concerns about the opportunity to meet the expectations of the public for MLA involvement and representation in the regular day-to-day decisions of the House.
What other decisions are the Premier and Intergovernmental Council making without the input of MLAs? Mahsi.
As I explained to committee and as the Member will be very pleased to know, all of the members of the Intergovernmental Council are very committed to transparency and all of the intergovernmental leaders have agreed to make meeting outcomes available, and leaders also recognize the need to be open and transparent and available and open to the press, their constituents and their fellow leaders within their governments. As I offered, there are ways around this observer thing. All of the governments have agreed to limit their participation to three members at the council. As I suggested in the briefing, our government could have, perhaps, the chair of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning sit in on the meetings as an observer for all of the MLAs that are interested. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for that offer from the Premier. I assume he would be willing to present that in writing. I’m sure that committee would respond positively to that, had we received that.
Given that the Premier has told us that other governments would be open to observers if they also had the opportunity to have observers, would the Premier go back to them and take them up on that offer and push for observer status for elected representatives of any of the governments participating in the Intergovernmental Council? Mahsi.
I’m always pleased to communicate any request of Members of this House to the Intergovernmental Council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
