Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the K’asho Gotine Dene of Fort Good Hope and the K’asho Gotine Dene of Colville Lake, which are the Dene and Metis of the Sahtu land claim, hold fee-simple title to approximately 13,000 square kilometres of land within the Sahtu Settlement Area with the Northwest Territories. The K’asho Gotine Dene negotiated the Minister’s access and benefits agreements with the proposed development with the K’asho Gotine district of the Sahtu Settlement Area.
Mr. Speaker, the draft proposed AIP suggests that the Government of the Northwest Territories would be assigned law-making authorities regarding the land and resources on Crown lands within the K’asho Gotine Dene district, but not extending to fee-simple lands. Additionally, the proposed draft AIP has designed a method of how resource royalties will be shared between the federal government, the territorial government and the K’asho Gotine Dene as any other landowners in the Northwest Territories. As the K’asho Gotine Dene of Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake are moving towards a self-government agreement and in the self-government process, our government must assure a share of resource royalties in jurisdictions and preservation of the constitutional rights as defined in Treaty 11, in 1921, and in Section 35.(1) of the Constitutional Act of 1982, are held in the manner and the spirit and intent of these historical agreements that were agreed to in the past.
No more broken promises, Mr. Speaker. It is in the opinion of the K’asho Gotine Dene that the bilateral agreement negotiated between the GNWT and Canada without the participation of the K’asho Gotine Dene will seriously impact progress of the current self-government process. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about devolution and resource revenue sharing. For the past 30 years governments in our Territory have been pursuing an agreement on devolving responsibilities from the federal government and getting a fair share of resource revenue. Mr. Speaker, the AIP that has been negotiated between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories is historic and now more than ever we will need our partners, the aboriginal governments in this Territory, to get on board with us in building a better Territory for all of our residents.
Mr. Speaker, for too long we have watched governments in Ottawa that took great pleasure in watching us fight amongst ourselves, who enjoyed making decisions for us in Ottawa, all the while siphoning off resource royalties into federal coffers.
The Conservative government, even though we do not have a Conservative Member of Parliament, have made significant investment in our communities, in our people and in our future. Finally we have a partner in Ottawa that wants only the best for the Northwest Territories. They listen and they care. Former INAC Minister Chuck Strahl, current INAC Minister John Duncan, John Baird, Jim Prentice, Leona Aglukkaq and Prime Minister Harper are paying attention to the North, to our aspirations and to our dreams as a Territory. This federal government fully believes in the true north strong and free. They have stated this many times for all Canadians to hear.
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, actions speak louder than words. The federal government is ready to act, ready to let us make decisions for ourselves, set our own agenda, to share in the resource royalties derived from the extraction of our vast resource wealth and, Mr. Speaker, this agreement will be the cornerstone of our future as a government. There will always be a public government in the Northwest Territories to serve the needs and desires of all of our residents and no matter how this public government evolves in our Territory, this agreement will be a solid foundation for the future.
We need to support our Premier and our government’s efforts in moving this AIP along. Leadership will be tested, lines may be drawn, but we must continue with great resolve and vigour to pursue our partners across this great Territory to deliver on this opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Again, I would like to thank Premier Roland and his government for getting us to where we’re at today. Again, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is very fortunate to have some strong friends in Ottawa who I know have helped pave the way towards this AIP: Senator Dennis Patterson from Nunavut, former Premier George Braden, former Minister Bruce McLaughlin, and Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Prior to discussing the issue on devolution yesterday, there was a press release that was released yesterday afternoon from the Gwich’in Tribal Council that clearly identifies that they are not supportive of the draft Northwest Territories devolution agreement. Also in the media release was a response to a letter that was written to the Premier back on April 19th which outlined a bunch of items that they’d like the Premier to discuss with them on how the division of powers was going to be looked at, looking at how the sharing of resources and revenues was going to be properly there to address the aboriginal issues, and, more importantly, looking at an agreement that clearly identifies the ability for aboriginal groups to use those resources on items they feel fit.
The most important item is dealing with the future role of aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories, in particular when it comes to negotiating policies and procedures and also an agreement that clearly identifies how aboriginal lands and Crown lands are going to be managed in the future.
We talk about formulating partnerships with aboriginal governments, government-to-government discussions. Yet again the wool has been pulled over the eyes of the aboriginal leaders in the Northwest Territories by having the Government of the Northwest Territories negotiate directly with the federal government without having aboriginal involvement at the negotiating table actually negotiating these items with the federal government so that we do have an agreement that deals with these outstanding issues and has the best interest of the people of the Northwest Territories at hand. Having an agreement simply for the sake of having an agreement is not the way to go. We have to have the best agreement we can for all parties, whether it’s aboriginal or non-aboriginal, and for the people of the Northwest Territories.
These are issues that have been raised. There are other discussions going on with other First Nations. My colleague from the Sahtu clearly stated that the Sahtu also has questions on this matter. Without having full involvement of aboriginal groups at the table, we will not achieve an agreement that meets the needs of all the people in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I speak today on a key concern with the land and resources devolution agreement-in-principle, its development to date, and the essential steps that must guide the completion of this work.
As proposed, devolution means taking the exact same federal resource management and regulatory regime and moving it across the street as is. Yet Northerners have been clear that the federal regime is inadequate and unrepresentative. It is not based on principles of sustainable development and lacks a full set of socio-economic and environmental tools for integrated resource management that we demand.
This agreement puts in place a system lacking our own NWT stamp of improvements and standards. As currently conceived in the AIP, we will not begin the process of improvement until after the final agreement. Upon devolution, this government will be swamped by huge new responsibilities and battling to keep ahead of the learning curve while taking care of business. Contemplating new law will be unrealistic. If we’re going to fix this system, the time to do it is beforehand. The resource management regime we put in place must be based upon broad, inclusive and comprehensive consultations with First Nations, stakeholders and the public at large.
What is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development in the eyes of Northerners? We can’t sign off on dollars until we know what an NWT management regime and the consultation and legislation to develop it is going to cost, and what the feds must pay.
Northerners need an AIP that ensures this will take place before, not after we assume these responsibilities. Adopting mirror legislation is simply not good enough. At a minimum, the final agreement must provide for the fact that new legislation will be made-in-NWT law, with supporting programs and necessary dollars attached.
The recent interim government response to the JRP report demonstrates that sustainability principles and firm law are crucial. The IGR provides people with no confidence that this government has the maturity and commitment to sustainable development that must be the basis of our future resource management regime, although I note that there is time for that.
Why, while negotiations of this AIP are underway, did the Premier focus on vague and costly public consultations on our political future when we should have been discussing crucial questions?
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Why were we out discussing vague consultation on our political future when we should have been asking crucial questions like when devolution comes, what law should we put in place? Some of us were raising this question and it makes me wonder if we are now where Canada was in requesting a seat at the UN Security Council. Do we lack the maturity and track record to qualify? I sincerely hope that is not true, that we do qualify, and I will be participating in discussions and looking for the Premier’s action to remedy this major flaw towards responsible devolution.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
