Mr. Speaker, in our style of consensus government I would like to ask the Premier: from where does he get his mandate to talk to anybody, let alone the Government of Canada, on devolution and resource revenue sharing?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I got my mandate right from Members themselves in this Legislative Assembly when you voted for me as Premier of the Northwest Territories. On top of that, with a number of the issues we’ve put on the table…. We talk about the vision and goals of the Members of this Assembly, taking that and trying to pursue it. That’s where the mandate comes from, and that’s where I carry through with the business at hand.
Now, I know Mrs. Groenewegen herself has quite a number of times stated on record in this Assembly that she’s not been satisfied with the approach we’ve taken. But at the same time Members have heard, when I spoke to the fact of getting this position, that I wasn’t going to be about the status quo and that I wanted to push files forward. I have been trying to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I’m glad the Premier realizes that his mandate comes from the Members of this Legislative Assembly. When he embarks on a conversation with the Prime Minister or anybody else, he is representing us. That’s why it would be really good for us to know what he’s going to say to them before he says it.
Now, we did get a quasi-apology today here in the House as to why the Regular Members were not informed of this fairly significant proposal to the Prime Minister in Inuvik. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen everybody for a long time. Everybody was out at the Gwich’in healing camp. He had just been there with Members; I wasn’t there personally. But there was unbelievably ample opportunity to share with the Members at that retreat — I don’t think there was a whole lot else going on out there — what he intended to go into Inuvik and talk to the Prime Minister about. So I don’t understand why the Premier doesn’t get it.
It’s fine for him to say that I don’t appreciate the approach. I’m not trying to be unnecessarily critical here. I just wish we could get the information before such large issues are broached on our behalf. I’d like to know: does the Premier think, going forward, that we can do better?
Mr. Speaker, I think in every scenario there’s room for improvement. In fact, I offered some opportunities for improvement from the last bit of criticism I had about strategic initiative committees. I got a response from the Chair of P and P on that. I guess that offer wasn’t good enough either.
The fact is that we are trying to do what we can. We have to at times make decisions to proceed in a timely manner to try to keep things moving. I will continue to do that. I’ve already said to a Member earlier that, yes, probably at that time I should have shared the letters we were prepared to give to the Prime Minister and the discussion that was about to take place. So I’ll wear that one as well.
Mr. Speaker, I guess this is not really the place to have a debate about whether or not the Regular Members want to sit on the strategic investment committees or not. There’s a whole reason for that. I’ll do a Member’s statement on that another day.
But I’d like to ask the Premier: if he had to name one thing that would be his goal to accomplish, that would be the legacy of the 16th Assembly — from all the dialogue, communication, strategizing, retreats, sit down talks he’s had with Members — what would be the thing that the 16th Assembly could advance and be remembered for? I’ve heard reference to the Mackenzie Valley Highway as part of this infrastructure thing. Is that something the Premier could hang his hat on?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t think that as the Government of Northwest Territories we should hang our hat on one initiative. I’ve watched previous governments stand up and make grand plans and talk proudly about where we can be and what we can do and at the end of that term sit down and say: well, we almost had it.
Devolution resource revenue sharing is one of those areas we’d like to get concluded in the life of this Assembly, but I also heard that in the last Assembly and the Assembly before that.
I would like to see what I think would secure our place within Canada: building the much needed infrastructure that would help us further develop our economy. That would help us and the federal government in the area of sovereignty. I’ve spoken to that a number of times.
One other key piece, I think — and I’ve laid this out in previous statements in this House — is to further develop the hydro potential we have in the Northwest Territories. We know that all of those the Government of the Northwest Territories will not be able to move by itself on. I think every Member in this Assembly knows that. We have to go out and find partnerships.
When I switched my portfolios and passed on the Finance portfolio, I committed to Members that I would put my energy and focus on selling the North to the rest of Canada and to our own people about what we can do. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Unfortunately, I feel like I’m being told: slow it down; slow that horse down and maybe get back on the mule, and let’s see where we end up in four years.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, you know, interestingly, I’m probably getting a clearer communication from the Premier from asking these kinds of probing questions on the floor of the House. I’m sure the people in the North are glad to hear the answers to these questions today.
Since we’re on the subject of process a bit, I have one last question for the Premier, and it has to do with his mandate as Premier. If the Premier had to categorize where he gets the majority of his advice — because nobody can operate alone; no one can operate in isolation — where would the Premier say he gets the majority of his advice and guidance on going forward, for example, with such a major initiative as the discussion with the Prime Minister of Canada on the infrastructure budget?
Mr. Speaker, the first piece we and I would get advice from is the work we did as 19 Members around building our vision for the Government of Northwest Territories. That would be the first piece. That’s where we talk about a strong, independent North built on partnerships. That is a key piece of where we’re getting this direction from.
Secondly, it’s from Members as we have discussions and take part either in committee meetings or directly in my office or Members’ offices, along with Cabinet, as we try to come up with what scenarios we can put in place. As well, trying to look at and hire some folks outside of our system to build the circle bigger, to open the doors when it comes to the rest of Canada, the other provinces and the federal government, to try to come up with scenarios that would work in helping build the business case — those are areas we’d pull together.
I believe that the wisdom of many will help in getting our job done in the Northwest Territories, and by no means do I think I hold all the wisdom.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
