Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are also for the Premier on the devolution AIP. Without getting into specifics, I want to say at the out start that the Premier has brought forward this potential and I sense a stirring of some possible excitement out there. I think I’d like to be a part of that excitement. It’s to that end that I am seeking to have some of my concerns elucidated or, hopefully, resolved.
But as I said in my statement the other day, the creation of a new resource management regime for the Northwest Territories must be based upon broad and inclusive public consultations involving First Nations governments, stakeholders, including industry, environmental advocates, municipal governments, social development NGOs and the general public; a really thorough, comprehensive process.
Will the Premier commit to putting in place these consultations and having a finalized and explicit made-in-the-NWT vision and implementation plan on land and resource management before the final agreement is signed to be put into legislation as soon as logistically possible after the final agreement? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess one way of looking at this as we talk about what the possibility is, the potential, right now an agreement-in-principle is a base document to begin serious negotiations on what authorities would be drawn from Ottawa, and it’s, if I can, to try to compare it to what we would do, I’ll use the house scenario, for example. Many potential homeowners, as you buy a new house or upgrade, you find you need to do some renovations and make some changes, but you can’t do that until you actually buy the house. In a sense, we’re negotiating this fixed piece of work and looking to those changes that need to occur as we take on that authority in the Northwest Territories.
So similar to what we would do in the case of the homeowner, the Government of the Northwest Territories, I believe we can, if we were to sign and decide to move forward on an agreement-in-principle, and as the negotiations started with all our partners including those that would join us from the aboriginal groups and governments, that we would be able to then move forward and start to identify those legislative changes that need to occur so that as we take it over it spells out a timeline initially. After that it becomes… We have to be prepared and ready to implement what we see as our programs and our changes in the North. I believe we can begin that work after the signing of an agreement-in-principle is made. Thank you.
I appreciate the Premier’s comments there. Of course, we can begin anything that we want. What I’m asking is can we complete this process? Can we get it done in the interim between the AIP and the final agreement in terms of a vision and the sort of implementation plan that’s explicit enough that we know the legislation we’re going to want to develop right after the final agreement is done? I’m looking for something a little more than just, yeah, we can do that, we can do anything. Thank you.
In the life left in this 16th Assembly and the timelines we are faced with and what decisions can be put in place and acted on, our window is shortening every day. On top of that, the fact that we’re committed to working together with the aboriginal governments and the federal government on the process forward and that negotiation process would have to spell some of that out as to what we can start to look at and change and build into a work program that would go forward. It would be difficult to say that we could have it all done, wrapped up and ready to present.
What I could say is, depending on the will of the House and aboriginal and the federal government as the final set of negotiations begin, to highlight those changes that would need to be made to truly make it a northern piece of legislation, we’d have to start that process with our partners, and, of course, we can’t dictate the timelines on that process. But I would say we can start it and get a plan in place. Thank you.
I like the last phrase there. The hope there’s room for that if we do go forward with this AIP.
I guess I haven’t quite developed the confidence I need to lay myself completely behind this yet, but the draft AIP lays out the financial provisions of the devolution transfer, including the transfer of funds currently devoted by the federal government’s resource management in the NWT. As we all know, the funds currently devoted by Ottawa are inadequate for the job. Major holes exist, such as the lack of completed land use plans, underfunded or incomplete cumulative effect research and monitoring, other underfunded or temporarily funded programs, new software, et cetera. If we accept this transfer of resource management responsibilities on the basis of current expenditures, we’ll be short-changing ourselves forever. The federal government cries poor, but has...
Do you have a question, Mr. Bromley?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government has $16 billion for fighter jets, but how will the Premier ensure a final financial agreement provides funding for the real cost of the sustainable, responsible and northern resource management regime for the future, or what options can be considered to address this cap just recognizing the value here, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
The caps that are talked about at times, if you look at, again, I go back to the scenario of a homeowner in the Northwest Territories, the fact that if we look at that house we want to buy and we know it’s not going to fit our needs, we’re going to have to make some changes. Now, that unit, as it stood, may have a dollar figure attached, but if we’re going to expand it, build on it and strengthen it, we’re going to go to the bank, or in this case the federal government, to say we believe it should be done this way. In fact, this AIP identifies that and has gone a long way to reducing the caps that were initially identified. Again, as we talked about creating that legislation in designing what we would have as our northern piece, we would be able to build what we want in the North and we’ll have to use the budgets that we’ve negotiated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The recent rejection of Canada’s bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council speaks volumes on the world’s verdict on Canada’s devotion to fundamental principles; tar sands to refusal for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and so on. We could look to the IGR, the interim government response to the Joint Review Panel as to why Northerners might say no to the GNWT. So there’s still time to demonstrate responsible action here.
So my question -- Mr. Speaker, this may be the way the Government of Canada does business, but not us, hopefully -- before signing this AIP, will the Premier commit to refusing any devolution deal that does not meet this government’s commitments for inclusion of aboriginal peoples and commitment to economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development? Thank you.
What the Member is requesting of me is one that the Executive Council will have to wrestle with as we hear the response back from the joint letter that went out to the negotiators as we hear back from Members of the Legislative Assembly on a decision forward. The fact that this agreement-in-principle highlights the working relationship government to government, After this, if a future government is to say yes, this agreement, the final agreement is done, we’re going to accept it, what we need to do is decide how we’re really going to negotiate. What we’ve talked about for almost three decades is a plan to negotiate. This would bring us to actual negotiations and I think that at that point and what we have now offers the aboriginal groups the opportunity to continue working as we progress. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
