Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Deputy Premier, Mr. Miltenberger, in regard to my comments in regard to the alienating of the treaty and the people in the Northwest Territories which make up the Treaty 8 and Treaty 11 and includes the majority of the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories. In light of that, we do have some obligations.
I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier exactly what are we doing to mend the fences to accommodate the treaty people in the Northwest Territories who basically have fundamental rights under Treaty 8, Treaty 11 and the modern day treaties and also in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As this question is directed, if I was not able to do the job then we would obviously go to the Deputy Premier in this case. As Premier I take direction from the Cabinet and Members of the Assembly in much of the work we do. In this area, the Member has raised a number of concerns and issues around the devolution agreement. As the devolution agreement is spelled out clearly, we look at the constitutional protection and rights of Aboriginal peoples throughout the Northwest Territories and that’s been incorporated. As for reaching out and looking towards working with the groups towards signing and joining us as we go down this path of negotiations, that door is open and we’re, as I have pointed out in the review of Executive budget yesterday, that we would have to this Assembly in a supplementary appropriation to ask for additional resources and we’re prepared to do that once we have a framework and a budget put out. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I illustrated in my Member’s statement, there have been fundamental court cases in the Northwest Territories with regard to the Paulette case, the Calder case in B.C., and also other court cases in Canada in regard to the Delgamuukw decision, which clearly illustrate that the governments, regardless if it’s the Government of the Northwest Territories or the Government of Canada, have a fiduciary obligation to protect the rights of indigenous people in the Northwest Territories and in Canada under those particular court cases, but more importantly, under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. So we do have a basic fiduciary obligation to protect those rights. By this transfer taking place without those indigenous people signing on and not endorsing this, are we fundamentally breaching that accommodation to ensure that we protect the rights of indigenous people especially the treaty Indians in the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, the signing of the devolution agreement, the work that is going to start in preparation for negotiation is part of a long process that has included Aboriginal groups from the very inception of the framework through to a signing of the past government and a number of the groups that went into the federal government to the process we’ve engaged in as the 16th Legislative Assembly. Clearly, again, the AIP has language throughout the agreement that talks about protecting the rights of Aboriginal peoples across the Northwest Territories under Section 35, under the land claims agreements and many of those areas, so we have, in fact, written into this agreement and we practice it as the Government of the Northwest Territories. For example, in any legislation that comes before this Assembly, if it has language that talks about non-infringing an Aboriginal people’s rights. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the indigenous people of the Northwest Territories, especially the ones with treaty rights, basically have a fundamental right spelled out in Treaty 8, modern day treaties and also under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Mr. Speaker, it is clearly illustrated that we have a duty to consult and include and involve them in these processes. From what is clearly stipulated, they haven’t been involved in this process. If anything, they have been alienated because of their views and the government that does not like to accommodate those views and basically remove them from the table. I would like to know what are we doing as a government to accommodate treaty Indians in the Northwest Territories, ensuring that their fundamental rights are not being breached by this agreement.
Mr. Speaker, I disagree with what the Member stated about not honouring those agreements. In fact, clearly, during the life of this Assembly, we can show many examples of where we have gone above and beyond working with Aboriginal organizations and governments across the Northwest Territories, right from working together on the Water Strategy, the Wildlife Act, where the groups have joined us in writing the act, to the agreement-in-principle and devolution process. In fact, the door remains open for them to join the process and, in fact, help design some of the negotiation mandates that would be there when it is a joint mandate that we would approach the federal government on, for example. We have gone a long ways. In fact, right from when the letters were initiated by the chief negotiators to Minister Duncan’s office and to my office, as well as letters gone directly to each regional leader about the agreement-in-principle and the work done.
We have worked with the groups starting in November, after the chance to do their internal review. We sat with them early in November, in December, in January. In fact, January 23rd when we held the meeting and had more work done towards the protocol and even provided that I would be available to pull myself out of meetings if they wanted to change some of that language to go forward. What happened there? The groups, instead of working on additional language and requesting that I come out of those meetings, worked on a protest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I clearly would like to stipulate that we do have an obligation to include First Nations people, and more importantly, that they do have fundamental rights to lands and resources in the Northwest Territories, not only the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Again, it is those rights that are being questioned here. I think it is not a question of process, it is a question of fundamental rights. What is the Premier doing to try to accommodate those First Nations groups, especially ones with treaties who have not signed, and to allow them to continue on either especially in their opinions, more importantly having a process that they can be fully integrated into the negotiations of the process than simply sitting on the sidelines? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, everything the Member said and his recent comments about the rights of Aboriginal people in the North, we agree. That is why the agreement-in-principle has the language it does about protecting Aboriginal rights. The section where the Constitution, Section 35, the land claims, we have that language throughout the agreement-in-principle. They are on the sidelines because they choose to. We have, in fact, invited them to be a part of this process going forward.
Following the signing, I have sent the letter to all the regions asking them to join with us again in this process as we go forward. In fact, again, I committed to Members of this Assembly, through the Executive budget review, that we would be prepared to put a budget in place to engage with communities and leaders on the AIP process towards the signing and joining them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
