Debates of October 17, 2006 (day 9)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can tell by the number of questions today regarding the royalty agreement, it’s getting to be a big issue and something we have to work on very quickly. Along those lines, I would like to ask the Premier a couple of questions myself. In response to one of the questions, he mentioned six outstanding issues that they were dealing with. My question to the Premier is, who are these issues between? Is it between the territorial government and federal government, the territorial government and the aboriginal groups? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Mr. Speaker, all of the six questions are between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. All of them are of interest to aboriginal organizations and governments as well, particularly the one that deals with how we will treat offshore resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier for the response. Years ago the leaders used to sit and discuss issues amongst themselves, but nowadays it seems like too much of that responsibility is passed on to bureaucrats or negotiators. I would like to ask the Premier if he, as the Premier, and the leaders of the aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories, the grand chiefs, the chairs, the presidents, just the leaders themselves, have you ever sat in a room and tried to iron out some of these details? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Mr. Speaker, yes, in the last year and a half we have had regular meetings with myself and the regional leaders, the grand chiefs, the presidents and so on. Mr. Speaker, the last meeting we had was, I believe, in about June or so. At that meeting, the leaders agreed that they wanted to meet to decide who their membership was before we would get together again, and that meeting has been postponed a couple of times and I understand it’s now going to be held in November. So following that, I will have another meeting with the regional leaders as a team if they choose to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier for that. I would encourage him to continue to meet with the regional leaders because they are the leaders of all the regions of the NWT. I think it’s the only way we are going to be able to get some progress done on this.

With the naming of the new negotiator for Canada, are we starting…How far back are we starting? Are we starting from scratch, or has some of the work been carried forward from the negotiations with the previous government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of work done over the last 20 years. I think until a year ago, we had made a considerable amount of progress up to July 2005, in fact to the point where the aboriginal leaders were going to recommend or the negotiators were going to recommend to their leaders acceptance of an agreement-in-principle on devolution. That took us to the six issues. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think the federal government should start from a clean slate. I think there is a lot of work out there that’s been done and I think they should start with that. My recommendation to both Minister Prentice and to Mr. Andre is let’s start with those six outstanding issues and get them resolved and that will bring us very close to an agreement-in-principle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a subject that we are starting to find quite frustrating and just keeps being put on the back burner. In response to another question from one of my colleagues, the Premier spoke about options. We may have other options. I would like to know what those options are. Do we have some drastic options for them to finally start paying attention to our demands? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 110-15(5): Devolution And Resource Revenue Sharing

Mr. Speaker, certainly lowering the flag would be an option. I think that one has been used already.

Mr. Speaker, I think the main option is we have to stay the course. There is a federal election coming soon, probably within the life of our government, and I think we get a very clear message that this is the main issue for us that the current situation is not sustainable. Mr. Speaker, I certainly welcome any advice from any Members if there are other things we can do, whether it’s turn the flag upside down or whatever it may be. My approach is that the federal government made a commitment to us. We give them time to deliver on that commitment. If they don’t within the next few months here, then we have to begin to take other actions. Mr. Speaker, we are coming up to an election. I think we have a window. Let’s use it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.