Debates of October 25, 2006 (day 15)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, October 27, 2006, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommend that the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories aboriginal governments reach a fair and equitable agreement-in-principle before the next federal budget; and further, that, for the sake of the future generations of northerners, all northern leaders set aside their differences and work together to achieve an agreement that will stop the flood of resource revenues leaving the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Notices of motion. Notices of motion first reading of bills. Motions. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS, the people of the Northwest Territories desire a self-reliant future within the Canadian federation to enjoy the same freedoms as other Canadians in determining their own affairs and priorities;

AND WHEREAS the people of the Northwest Territories desire to have a prosperous future for ourselves and our children, based on the wise management and sharing of the wealth of our lands and waters, and the hard work and the resourcefulness of our people;

AND WHEREAS the anticipated royalties and taxes resulting from current and prosperous mineral and hydrocarbon resource development could amount to an estimated $20 billion within the next 20 years, of which northern governments will receive little or nothing in the absence of a resource revenue sharing agreement;

AND WHEREAS the gross domestic product of the Northwest Territories increased by 71 percent in the last six years, eclipsing even Alberta by almost three times, and has the potential to continue at an accelerated pace;

AND WHEREAS the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, told the people of the Northwest Territories on August 22, 2006: "It is time we begin to hear the call of a New North - a North that is stronger, more prosperous and liberated from the paternalistic policies of the past";

AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada has recently appointed a new negotiator with a mandate to arrive at an agreement-in-principle between Canada, the Northwest Territories and aboriginal governments for the devolution of resource development authorities and the sharing of resource royalties;

AND WHEREAS it is entirely within the power of the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories aboriginal governments to arrive at a devolution and resource revenue sharing agreement;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and Northwest Territories aboriginal governments reach a fair and equitable agreement-in-principle before the next federal budget;

AND FURTHER, that, for the sake of future generations of northerners, all northern leaders set aside their differences and work together to achieve an agreement that will stop the flood of resource revenues leaving the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The motion is on the floor. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to support this motion. I think that the time is critical, as Mr. Handley indicated between six and 12 months. I think it is really critical now, as Mr. Handley and also his Cabinet has heard from all of us on this side here, in terms of coming to an agreement-in-principle with the Government of Canada working closely with our aboriginal governments as we are the key ingredients to the key to what type of devolution and resource revenue sharing we are going to have in the Northwest Territories. That is regardless of a lot escaped. There is a lot of land. I think that we, as northerners, set aside our differences and look at more of our similarities. It is well spoken by this side that we have a lot of similarities in the small communities. We need to put a focus on what is good for all northern people, what is good for our communities in the settled and unsettled areas. We need to look at the basic ingredients that keep us together. We need some good housing, good sheltering. We need some food on our table that we can afford. We need some good water. We need to have ownership of the land. We need these basic necessities to live up here. I think it is high time. It is a critical time. It is a time that all northern people come together and, as I said in my statement prior, Mr. Speaker, that all northern people come together for survival of the Northwest Territories, of the survival of a nation of people.

We are not going anywhere, Mr. Speaker. Our people will live here. They are going to die here. There are lots of good northerners who came from the South who are making the Northwest Territories their home now. There are still some that migrate back to the southern area. That is okay. The real people that stay in the Northwest Territories have the real benefits. It is at our cost that, if we don’t get this deal done, we are the losers in this one here.

So I say to this motion that the government seriously consider this motion and look at ways to get a deal done that is going to make all people of the Northwest Territories very proud that we, as leaders, this is our role. They put us out in the front. This is what we have to do. Our people are waiting for us. The elders are waiting for us in terms of the comforts of living in the small communities. The young people are going to wait for us and say what type of deal have you given to us that we can live by?

We have gone in areas where our own communities, the aboriginal governments, have settled a land claim for the people and for the generation. We have gone to great discussions in terms of putting together a resource revenue deal, a devolution deal for all people of the Northwest Territories. We have to work together. We still drink the same water. We still breathe the same air.

Under our leadership and, of course, by the elders, Mr. Speaker, our elders are always saying we have to work together. That is going to be our greatest challenge, is to put our differences aside. Some of us are really going to have to bite our tongue on some issues here, but we have to think about the ones that are going to come before us, the ones who came before us and the ones who are going to come after us in terms of what is our contribution, our legacy to put together a northern strong unique style of leadership that will just amaze Ottawa. It will blow them right out of the water because we come together as one.

We are unique. We are special. I don’t see Ottawa coming up here and staying here. They make a quick trip up here, they make a quick announcement and they go back.

So I say, Mr. Speaker, in closing, that we are at a critical time in history of the Northwest Territories. I look forward to working with people of the Northwest Territories on this motion here with all Members. I hope that we do come out with a strong vision that we could all be proud of and have a goal, a good sense of, yes, this is what the people of the North want. This is where we are going. Really think about the ones who have done this work prior to us even being born. The elders have really gave thought to what the North can provide and give to the people of the rest of Canada. So I am going to say that I am glad this motion came to the floor to give us some direction to the leadership and to all leadership in the Northwest Territories to look at this motion to consider the possibilities that we could have if we put our minds and hearts together, Mr. Speaker, with one voice. Give one voice that would bring a lot of good benefits to the people in our communities. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am also a strong supporter of this motion simply due to all of the reasons that all of the Members gave in their Members’ statements today. I hope that we can reach some agreement-in-principle by the deadline that was specified in the motion.

Mr. Speaker, in my constituency of Tu Nedhe, we have two multi-billion dollar mines that are operating. We have one that is currently under construction. We have another one that is in the regulatory stages. We have a few more that are in the assessment stages of whether they are going to develop or not, and many more exploration claims that are being actively assessed in the uranium, lead, zinc and other industries. That is just going to add to more resource revenues leaving our territory if and when they do start producing. If we are standing here in two or three more years still wondering where our resource revenue sharing agreement is, how many millions of dollars are going to be gone by that time, Mr. Speaker? Like the one Member said, we are talking three-quarters of a million dollars a day. That is just mind boggling to think of how much we are losing out on.

In our smaller communities all over the Territories we have high unemployment rates because we don’t have the resources to provide training to these people that want to take some upgrading and want to improve on their skills. We have high crime rates in the smaller centres. We have high rates of illiteracy amongst the aboriginal peoples just simply due to the fact that this government just doesn’t have the resources available or the adequate resources at our disposal to deal with all of these issues that come forward in this House everyday. I think that if we do have some kind of agreement-in-principle which even sets aside some dollars for future use or where aboriginal, regional or community governments can access in order to build capacity, assist our elders in housing and assist the youth in furthering their education, it is a win-win situation, Mr. Speaker.

I really have to emphasize that we have to really come together as northerners and really put some stringent demands on bureaucracy, the House of Commons, the leaders in Ottawa, to ensure that everything that Stephen Harper said when he was here, that we have to hear the call of a new North. We are a new North. We are prosperous. We are strong, but we are not liberated. I think that is the whole issue of resource revenue sharing, is the fact that we are not liberated so we just don’t have the clout and the guns to make stringent demands. Maybe we have to even go further than a motion and come unified and just halting all development in the NWT altogether until we get a resource revenue sharing agreement.

Like another Member said, the more resources start flowing out of the Territories, the harder line the federal government is going to take in ensuring that we don’t get a resource revenue sharing agreement anytime soon. So time is of the essence. It is about time that we really stand together and really draw our line in the sand and move forward with the federal government in tow to develop a resource revenue sharing agreement which we can all live with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. To the motion. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. People who lived in this land before government came along were very self-reliant. They had no choice. Sometimes things were tough. Sometimes there was an abundance of what people needed. Government came and people became very dependent on the generosity of a government, whether it was a federal or territorial government, far too much. I believe every person in the Northwest Territories wants to regain that self-reliance, pride, that self-esteem that comes with it.

Mr. Speaker, our young people have gone to school on the promise that there would be jobs, that there would be a future for them. We have record numbers coming through the school system. We need to provide them with a future. We need to do it in a modern way. They don’t want to go back, all of them, and be trappers and hunters and so on. That future doesn’t exist for most of them anymore. They want their place in Canada in a modern world.

Mr. Speaker, we have the good fortune of an abundance of wealth in the Northwest Territories. We are agreeable to having that resource, much of which is non-renewable extracted from our land, but on the condition that it is done in a way that is environmentally right, that it is done in a way that the people in the North will benefit the most from it. The Prime Minister has made that commitment, that we should be the primary beneficiaries. He said we should get the principal share of the resource revenues. We believe him.

Mr. Speaker, I think we have an opportunity ourselves as a government and the federal government to do something that is here with us right now. It may not return again if we miss this opportunity. It may not return for 20, 50 or 100 years, or we may never have this opportunity again. I think it is dependent on us as government and aboriginal leaders to take advantage of that opportunity for our people and for future generations. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that our government supports this recommendation 100 percent…

---Applause

…and we appreciate the support of all of you as leaders in trying to move this ahead along with the federal government, our government and with the aboriginal governments. Mr. Speaker, like I say, we support this 100 percent. Our Cabinet will not be voting on this issue because it is a recommendation to the government and following tradition, we do not vote on recommendations to us. With that, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. To the motion. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. speaker, this has been a good discussion here today and I am happy to see it’s coming onto the floor of this House, because in committee we talk about resource revenue sharing a fair amount. I won’t give you any of the details, of course, because that’s against the rules, but some of the quality of debate that sometimes goes on behind closed doors, I am glad to see it’s coming onto the floor of the House here because northerners need to hear where we stand on this.

The resource revenue sharing aspect of our aspirations here quite often overlaps and is interchangeable we think with resource development. Those two subjects are related, but sometimes when we talk about wanting a good deal for resource revenue sharing, in our frustration sometimes we say let’s just stop development until we get it. Then, of course, we hear from all the folks who are poised to benefit from resource development. As Premier Handley said, the young people out there are looking forward to jobs and opportunities and businesses that are looking forward to contracts and things to do. So sometimes in our desperate desire sometimes to get some kind of a good deal going forward, the deal could stay in place for generations to come. We can’t afford to ink a bad deal for the Northwest Territories. We’ve seen other provinces and have had to live with the consequences. We can’t afford that.

We feel that our leverage and our ability to affect Ottawa on this subject is limited, so we get frustrated sometimes. I come from a community that prides itself on being pro development and often referred to as the business centre in the South Slave and hub of the North and activity for communication and transportation and the service industry. There are definitely businesses that have evolved and have grown and matured over the years in the North that are poised to benefit from resource development. But I just want to make it clear today that sometimes when we just look at the near future, we think let’s go for all the development that we can have here. But when we look at the long-range needs of northerners and we look at the desire for quality health services and education…

I just ran into a mom from Hay River last night who told me that this program has been cut in their school and that program has been cut. With these vast resources, we have to have a way of translating that into the best quality of services, programs and support for our residents as we can possibly acquire. There is no reason for there to be such a contract in the picture of a region so rich in resources and people so suffering without ability to access what they need to make their life a quality life.

So this is sometimes the conflict that we are faced with. We want development, we want jobs, we want business opportunities, but we can’t afford a bad deal for the long haul. I have no sense of how realistic our expectations are in terms of Ottawa. I wish we had something. We have thrown things out here today, a comment here or there from the Prime Minister. Myself, personally, -- and I have been very close to the politics in the North for many, many years -- I still don’t see anything I can really hang my hat on that gives me confidence that we are being heard and that our aspirations and what’s duly owed to us is going to be forthcoming.

I wish we had that and I hope Ottawa is listening to this discussion today and I don’t think we are being unrealistic. I don’t think we are being greedy. We know the population is going to grow. We know that resource development is going to continue to grow and in those years and decades to come, we have to make sure that we have a deal that will provide sufficient resources, financial resources to this territory to allow us to live in the style to which we should live, given the fact that we have these resources. Sometimes we get frustrated and we say let’s join Alberta or let’s build a fence at the border or let’s put up a roadblock. That’s just because we are desperate. We desperately need Ottawa’s attention on this file. The diamond mines are operating and being constructed and those resources are going to flow.

Albeit, Canada has been supporting the North for a long time. When you do look at some of the infrastructure and some of the things we have enjoyed here over the years, we have to be realistic and say it is a lot better than what you see in a lot of rural, northern, remote areas in other parts of Canada. I think the federal government has been supportive, but we are kind of at a crossroads here right now where resource development is growing to the magnitude that if we do not have a resource revenue sharing deal that is good for northerners and will carry us for many years ahead, we are starting to get nervous about it. That’s where we find ourselves. That’s where we are in time. I suppose if there was no diamond mines and there was no promise of a Mackenzie gas pipeline and all these things, maybe this wouldn’t be such a pressing subject for us.

In the past, we had the Northern Accord which required unanimous support or they didn’t get it. Then we had Ministers of Indian Affairs who came along and said we get a majority of aboriginal governments and territorial government to agree to a plan, that’s good enough. Well, we didn’t achieve a majority under those Ministers. Now we have a government that is looking at the resources here in the North and they are saying -- at least this is what I heard Mr. Prentice say and I think he said it here in the North -- if we can’t make up our minds, if we can’t come to an agreement, they will make the decision for us. I don’t like that. I think we have got to stand up, be counted, take a position and hopefully that we will be listened to.

We don’t want to discourage or discredit in any way the aspirations of the different groups that potentially will be affected by resource development. The Northwest Territories and the North in general is really the last place in Canada where the federal government can do right by northerners and it’s a fact. Half of our people in the Northwest Territories are aboriginal people. They are people who have a special right to which the government owes a special duty. We have not seen the conclusion of all of those discussions and negotiations with respect to those obligations, but you only have to look in southern Canada to see how people who had treaties with the federal government and how they were marginalized and how they were put onto tracks of land. I don’t need to give anybody a history lesson here, but the Northwest Territories is one place where the federal government has an opportunity to do right by aboriginal people in terms of the issues that need to be settled and the deals that still need to be made that is to their benefit.

It’s a wonderful opportunity ahead of us, but it can be lost. We have an opportunity to seize and it can be lost if we cannot come together here in the North and respect and recognize what northerners want. We have an obligation to speak about that in this House and that’s what we have done today. I feel encouraged by that. I encourage our leadership on the other side of the House to press on, make it the priority that we have talked about here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to be speaking today in favour of the motion that is before us. I would like to start off by thanking the Regular Members of this House for the input that they have had in putting this motion together over the last number of days. I would also like to thank the Premier. I do know, Mr. Speaker, that the Premier and his government are making this a priority and they are working hard at achieving our goals in Ottawa.

I do want to talk for a second about this motion. Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government -- and there has been some discussion again here today about what the federal government is or isn’t doing -- we must remember that the Conservative government has only been in office for 10 months. The previous government, the Liberal government, was there for 13 years and did absolutely nothing, Mr. Speaker. I believe Stephen Harper, when Mr. Harper was in our Great Hall a couple of months ago, I believe what he said. I believe he is a man of his word. I believe Jim Prentice, the Minister of DIAND. He is a man of great integrity and I believe, as well, a man of his word. I do believe that the Conservative government will hold to their promises of delivering a resource and devolution deal here in the Northwest Territories in the near future.

Mr. Speaker, what I see is no one seems to really respect our government. To me, that’s a problem. I mentioned it in my Member’s statement today. We seem to lack the respect, especially in the aboriginal community and the governments across the Northwest Territories, the respect factor is not there and, Mr. Speaker, we seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to any development or opportunities or anything. The government seems to always be in last place.

From where I stand, Mr. Speaker, the best thing the federal government could do is look at actually blowing up DIAND in Ottawa and take it out to the regions. Take it where the northern development is happening here in Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik. Put the offices here where the people can actually get to work on northern development issues, or in Whitehorse or Iqaluit.

They don’t belong in Ottawa. One of the big difficulties I see too is the federal bureaucrats in Ottawa trying to protect their jobs at the sake of our territory trying to gain its aspirations and its development as a territory. These bureaucrats, Mr. Speaker, are standing in the way of that happening, in my mind. The government in Ottawa, the Conservative government, has to realize this and take measures to stop that type of attitude from happening in Ottawa. Northern development belongs to northerners, Mr. Speaker, and this is where it belongs.

I also wanted to touch on another item, Mr. Speaker. To me, when there is a dispute and obviously there is a dispute here at play even in the Northwest Territories between some of our aboriginal governments, our government and Ottawa. There is a dispute. The fact of the matter, Mr. Speaker, is the revenue is leaving our territory and going to Ottawa. What I have been saying since the day I walked through those doors is why don’t we, by any means possible and if we have to take legal action, why don’t we demand the federal government put every last cent that leaves this territory in resource revenue in trust until such a time as there is an agreement amongst northern governments and there is an agreement with northern governments and Ottawa? Once the money starts piling up, Mr. Speaker, I think there would be more of an onus obviously to settle our differences and to divide up those resource royalties.

If I could, just one other item here, and that is if we look at the recent raft of federal cuts and the impact we had in the territory the size of the Northwest Territories, 43,000 people here, Mr. Speaker, we are not a province. We have no ability to replace those dollars. I am not sure how it’s communicated with Ottawa from our government, but that message has to be sent loud and clear, Mr. Speaker. The federal government can’t continue to take our resource revenues and expect us to replace cuts when they cut across the board with literacy cuts, cuts to the Court Challenges Program, cuts to volunteerism. It runs the full gamut of what we are trying to do as a people and trying to develop ourselves as a territory. It is shameful and that should not be allowed to happen.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I do support the motion. I do support the Conservative government in Ottawa, but the message has to get through to them. I am not sure who is going to deliver that message, the cuts happened across the board, various departments were affected. Somebody has to get the message through to Ottawa that we have to be treated fairly. We have not been treated fairly and I think it’s time, Mr. Speaker, that we stand up and demand that we deserve better as a territory and as a people, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the motion. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am, of course, standing here today in favour of the motion. You know, Mr. Speaker, there are a few points I would like to make, but I would like to perhaps pick up from where my colleague, the Member for Kam Lake, left off. It is a plea for Ottawa to hear the message, but it is also a query, a concern about who is going to take that message. I would volunteer, Mr. Speaker. As we have been talking about this afternoon, will it, should it really come down to one person, one messenger? I would argue that it is really a collective, Mr. Speaker, a collective of representatives of our government along with our colleagues, our counterparts in the aboriginal governments. It will be a joint message delivered by a team, by a group of people who stand in favour of the common good, what is in it for all of us, which is really what is missing right now, Mr. Speaker. That is who I know, Mr. Speaker, has the mandate to take that message.

As we have been talking about here this afternoon, our most fervent desires that we can put together, that collective cause, that collective purpose, set aside our differences and carry that message to our nation’s capital.

Mr. Speaker, I have talked to or asked questions a few days ago, at the start of the session, in fact, about the negotiation itself, that we are engaged or we are presuming to be engaged in with Mr. Andre, the negotiator with Ottawa’s authority on this one. That, indeed, has been a question and a concern of mine, Mr. Speaker. Just what authority, what mandate is Mr. Andre bringing to the table here? I was going over the record of the Premier’s answers to me from last Monday and it is not apparent there that indeed Mr. Andre is bringing to the table the authority from his bosses in Ottawa to negotiate the bundle, the full meal deal, Mr. Speaker, that we know we want to go forward on and that is a devolution, a resource responsibility to the North and to our governments along with the wealth, the resource royalty sharing agreement.

It’s a concern because I was not able to get from the Premier’s answers that Mr. Andre does indeed have the authority and the mandate from Ottawa to get a deal on both of these critical areas.

Mr. Speaker, while we have seen numerous efforts by other governments from Canada to do this, I, too, want to give the new Conservative regime a reasonable chance to get this deal done. Indeed, Mr. Prentice and Mr. Harper have said more definitively and clearly than any other of their counterparts that this is something they realize can and should be done. But without the real nuts and bolts mandate, without giving Mr. Andre the toolbox to do this, I must admit I am sceptical that we are engaged in a series of negotiations that really amounts to anything more than we had before.

I do continue to put confidence and optimism into this, but it is going to be the proof, of course, that I will be looking for and every one of us will be looking for to show that we are not just engaged in another chapter of the never ending story. We really are going to get to a deal.

Mr. Speaker, it’s been said here before, but I think it’s worth underlining, that our dispute here is not with the developers, the miners, the builders, the drillers, the people who want to build and own pipelines here in the Northwest Territories. Those are shareholders, those are companies, those are corporations that have taken risk. They have put their dollars on the table in good faith in the hope that they are going to get a return; some of them have, some of them haven’t, Mr. Speaker. All you have to do is look at my meagre portfolio to show that there is still risk money out here on the ground in the NWT that just might not get a return on the investment. That is part of our economy and part of the way we work up here. So we do not want to curb or stem or choke off that flow of risk money that’s gong into the exploration and the continuing development. But as we have said so many different ways this afternoon, there must come a point, there must be a time when we will say to ourselves, for ourselves, for the benefit of ourselves and our children, that we have got to see something in it for us.

Mr. Speaker, I think there is an assumption made, at least in southern circles and maybe in the bureaucracy that we talked about: What the heck is the matter with those guys in the NWT in that big pink part of the map that can’t look after themselves? They are getting all this money from us, from the southern taxpayers already. They sound like a bunch of crabby whiners up there. Why don’t they get with the picture?

Mr. Speaker, what is essential between us and most other jurisdictions in Canada is that we do not have that control over the pace and style of development. We do not have a share of the cycle of wealth as it flows out of the ground through corporate hands, through taxation hands and through governments. That is something that is missing in this gap here and it’s something we want, Mr. Speaker. We want the responsibility to handle the obligations that come with resource management. We don’t have that right now. As has already been said here this afternoon, we are on a fixed income, but the pressures and the consequences of the kind of wealth and the kind of activity that we have around here are hobbling us. They are slowing us down and it’s very much, Mr. Speaker, part of the frustration that you are seeing here this afternoon and I think what you are seeing in many other corners of the Northwest Territories. Just what is the benefit of this pace of development, triple that of Alberta’s of the past six years? What is in it for us? That’s the question that you want to get an answer to.

Mr. Miltenberger this afternoon, I listened with great attention and very strong agreement at the message he was delivering to the Assembly, his passion and concern with the environment. Mr. Speaker, that is very much a tie in with the motion in what we are trying to achieve today. We have many other people dictating and deciding the kinds of development that is going to go on up here and the pace of development. How are we going to obtain the control over the environment that Mr. Miltenberger so eloquently pleads for? We have got to bring that home. We have got to bring that into the Northwest Territories and do what Mr. Miltenberger is advocating which is to integrate all of those decisions so we can come up with something that’s economically and socially and environmentally responsible. How can we hope to attain that when all these different decisions are being made at different times in different venues and we are quite removed from it?

Mr. Speaker, the last point I wanted to make is to the timing that we have suggested in our motion. Earlier today, the Premier answered some questions for me about that. He is suggesting that the end of the fiscal year is when we should be trying to resolve that. I don’t want to argue against that, Mr. Speaker, but it’s rather bureaucratic and a process and systemic kind of time frame. The motion that we put forward was crafted, Mr. Speaker, with the idea that it was going to be by the time of the next federal budget, normally in February as the deadline we should seek. We’ve already been told, Mr. Speaker, that on a few fronts, especially our formula financing one, that we are gong to have to wait until the federal budget to find out what Ottawa wants to do with us.

I would suggest that if there are going to be any fiscal agreements made in our negotiations that we are going to see the proof of that and the delivery of that will begin, we hope and pray it will begin, at least with the coming of the next federal budget. That is an explanation for why we chose that time frame. That is a political tipping point, if you will, Mr. Speaker, that will really show what the new Conservative government is indeed prepared to commit to and take to the floor of the House of Parliament to get approval for.

Mr. Speaker, the longer we choose not to get together on this to form that unified approach, to link arms and take our case to Ottawa with and among aboriginal leaders as well as this government, the more we stand to lose, Mr. Speaker. I am going to put the ultimate responsibility and authority for delivering this deal to northerners with Ottawa, but we also have our responsibility to demonstrate that across the board as we go about this Northwest Territories is going to run, not just next year but for generations to come. It is ours to lose, Mr. Speaker, if we don’t put ourselves together and act as one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. To the motion. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, wish to speak in favour of this motion and, Mr. Speaker, I would like to spend my time talking about not why we need this resource revenue sharing deal but how I think we should get it. Of course, I don’t have the million dollar answers there, but perhaps I could add my argument here, Mr. Speaker. Let me just put it on record that I support resource development and the benefits to be gained from that, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that the last time I was in Inuvik, I hadn’t been there for a little while and I got to see the new Mackenzie Hotel for the first time, and then we were also in Norman Wells for the Circle of Northern Leaders and I saw the new hotel there. If there was no other indication, I think those two hotels should tell us that the people in the northern valley of the Mackenzie Delta are ready for this. They are optimistic for the pipeline development and all the benefits that can be gained from that.

I think the energy is possible and there is no question, Mr. Speaker, that this Legislature has also spoken twice in favour of resource development projects such as the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. The Assembly spoke in March of 2004 and the motion said we support Mackenzie Valley pipeline development, although we did speak to the fact that the support was conditional and that we wanted to have the benefits of that.

Just to make it clear, this House passed another motion in October of 2004, almost to the day, Mr. Speaker. It was October 21, 2004. The motion read that the Legislative Assembly urges the federal government to negotiate a fair resource revenue sharing agreement that provides northern governments with an equitable share of royalties from our hydrocarbons and minerals as essential to ensuring the people of the Northwest Territories are the primary beneficiaries of the development of our resources.

So, Mr. Speaker, the Legislature has spoken very clearly that we do support resource development projects, but we do want to benefit from that and the only way we can see that can happen is by achieving some sort of deal on resource revenue sharing, Mr. Speaker, and it is quite frustrating to see that two years later to the latest motion, we are here passing another motion saying almost the same thing and really not getting that much further ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I know the Premier indicated earlier today that we're a little close to the deal before, and I have no idea. I've asked questions in the last week for the evidence of that. Maybe we are one foot closer, I don't know, 100 metres closer. But if our distance is in fact from here to the moon, I'm not sure if being one foot closer is really getting us anywhere.

Mr. Speaker, I like to think that I am an optimistic person, especially when we are talking about politics of possibilities. I know people often say how could you be in politics. Politics is not always seen in the best light, and I'm not going to the politician thing, but I have to tell you I believe, I honestly believe in politics and the possibilities of politics, especially when you think about a group of like-minded people coming together and really working honestly and earnestly to resolve something and reach a deal that would benefit the people that they represent. I mean those people don't even have to be like minded. You could be coming from all sorts of different directions with different self-interests, and self-interests aren't a bad thing either. But I believe in the possibility of politics. I believe in the possibility of working together and working out differences. But in this instance, Mr. Speaker, I have to say this motion is saying that we need to do something different.

We have six months left, or maybe I shouldn't shorten that, we have maybe 11 months left. But to do real work, we are desperate. We really need to do something to make sure that we do reach a deal that will give us benefit for the pipeline.

Mr. Speaker, one thing that I noticed in listening to the debates going back and forth, and something that a lot of people know about, and that is that when you have a situation where you're not getting to where you want to get to or you're not seeing the results, the first thing I think we need to accept is that we have a problem. A lot of times people don't like politicians and politics because everybody wants to spin their stories and they always want to put the best possible light to a really bad situation, and nobody wants to take responsibility. I heard a lot of that today, Mr. Speaker, and let me tell you I want to be the first one to say that I am willing to accept any responsibility there is for me to share in my little role. I'm not the biggest player in the Northwest Territories, but I'm telling you we are all responsible. Not just in this Legislature as 19 Members, and there are some here with bigger hats and more important seats. I think it's about time that we all kind of look at each other and say you know what, whatever we're doing is not working and we're failing our people, and I don't hear that. We hear people who have addictions problems. Everybody tells you you're not going to change anything and improve on anything unless you realize that you have a problem. You have to admit it, find a way to change it, try to get help where you're needed. At least look at your records. I don't see that, Mr. Speaker, and I say that to all the leaders in the Territories. I think Mr. McLeod from Inuvik Twin Lakes wanted to send that challenge.

I'm going to tell you thing, Mr. Speaker, the Premier said earlier that this is the most important file, he's had thousands of meetings, probably millions of miles, but none of that really matters, Mr. Speaker. Government has come and gone, but the Premier has been in place for three years, we've been in place for three years, it's really time that somebody take responsibility for lack of progress.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I've done by share of bashing the federal government, because we are an entity or we are an arm of DIAND legislation.

You got 'er.

I can't remember what the exact word is. We're a creature…

A creature.

We're a creature of statute. We’re not a constitutionally formed provincial government, so now it's very scary but it's probably technically possible for the federal government to…She's coming toward me. I thought she was going to give me some words or something.

---Laughter

It's probably technically possible for the federal government to get through the pipeline, get the thing done, get the pipeline going south without a deal. There's nothing in it for us. It's up to us to make it happen.

Earlier it was mentioned that Prime Minister Harper promised resource revenue sharing and development. I didn't hear that anywhere. In fact, he came here and said you've got to show us you're ready for business and the way to do that is approve the pipeline. I also heard him say and trying to say in Norman Wells, that nobody has veto power.

That's right.

I heard that and that's a call of alarm in my opinion. That is telling us that the NWT government does not have veto power, no aboriginal government has veto power, and if we are thinking leaders and responsible leaders and we don't want to fail the people, we have to take that as a challenge from the federal government, that we know what we want, we want a pipeline, we think the North has a useful role to play in terms of meeting the energy needs of the world, and of any kind of resource requirements because we have a ton of them, and we will do as little as what we need to do to get it. That's the answer I get. It's up to us, as the leaders of the Territories, to step up to the plate and say you know what, your minimum is not good enough for us. I don't hear that and instead I hear our leader for the last three years saying every time he comes back from Ottawa, everything is great in Ottawa. Everybody's saying the right things, I think they like us, they understand us, they understand our file, they want to work out a deal. The same thing with aboriginal leaders. I'm working with aboriginal leaders, everything is happening and yet on the sidelines, I have heard more than once aboriginal leaders saying that we don't have the same understanding. I am just saying somebody has to take the leadership of this role, we know who's supposed to do it, somebody has to step up to the plate because I'm telling you we would have a lot of humble pie to eat, or a lot more actually serious than that, because I don't want to be the one 20, 30 years down the road when I want to pull a blanket over my head and say my goodness, if I could have just done something, what is that. I tell you, I urge really the only way we could get the maximum, the only way we could get more than the minimum that the federal government is willing to offer, the only way we could get a deal that is not crippled because of someone not having veto power is for us to be united. We need to support every table and all the regional governments. That's the only way we're going to be as strong and actually stronger than the combined players.

I have to tell you there are those, probably in Yellowknife, too, and some conservative elements in society who believe that nobody should have veto power, and I can understand that side. But, Mr. Speaker, I'm telling you we need to look at this in a completely different way, and the resource revenue sharing deal cannot come without answering to the grievances politically and socially, and we need a vision for the North about how we're going to achieve this. There's no more. We are failing our people if we say I'm doing my part, there's somebody in one corner of the NWT trying to get a better deal with the NWT, the GNWT is doing their thing, somebody in the South, somebody in the North, everybody's going off doing their thing and we're going to fail our people. I really think we could be an enormously successful party, a strong party, strong party at the table if we could get all the leaders together and say this and really unite and come up with a position. I understand how difficult this may be, but that is the task at hand. Any leader in this territory who likes to think himself as a leader or herself as a leader or anybody out there, that's the challenge. I have to believe in the politics of possibilities. I am not being naïve. I think it takes give and take, and I know that with the resource development issue here of the diamond mines, the biggest beneficiary, outside of Yellowknife, is the North Slave region. I think there's an example there where when the aboriginal people and aboriginal governments benefit it helps all the rest of us. That's the principle also that this government should advocate more on. But I tell you, Mr. Speaker, so far I hear everybody spinning, everybody saying we're doing everything we can, everybody is happy, things are happening, just wait, we're close to a deal, you know hanging onto every little spin that every Prime Minister gives, and I'm not just talking about the Conservative government.

So, Mr. Speaker, the most important paragraph in this motion is, of course, the last paragraph and we're giving a deadline. We're saying to all of us -- and that's all of us here -- but anybody who considers themselves a leader and has any say in the political and social and economic development of the Northwest Territories, we all have to step back and look within ourselves and say is this the best we can do for our people that we represent, and isn't it time that we set our differences aside and unite so that we make sure that we're not sidelined with the minimum deal that the federal government is willing to give us so that it will play on the most vulnerable and weakest link of our territory and in the end failing all our people.

So, Mr. Speaker, in the next two months I'll be looking for real strong leadership and no more excuses and no more proclamation of progress where there's no evidence…

No more.

…to show whatsoever. So, Mr. Speaker, it's time to step up to the plate and produce some goods. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Time. Time. Time.

---Laughter

Thank you, Ms. Lee. To the motion. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm a believer that the citizens of the Northwest Territories should be finally taking control of their own destiny, Mr. Speaker, and that doesn't necessarily mean the revenues from petroleum or minerals, Mr. Speaker, it's about setting a course, a northern course, that we will guide ourselves by our own principles in relationship with the aboriginal governments, Mr. Speaker. I've been a supporter of that, I always have and I always believe that the Northwest Territories government will play a leadership role in that. As a council is, we build a giant council for our whole territory, Mr. Speaker.

But that council can only exist with fair controls given back to us that I think are rightfully ours, Mr. Speaker. It's time that we get control of our own destiny. Even things like land and water boards, Mr. Speaker, they report to the DIAND Minister. I mean it's our land and our water boards that are talking to the Minister of DIAND, Minister Prentice. That doesn't seem fair, Mr. Speaker.

We've talked many times about not having a veto card or anything on any of this development or any process, but, Mr. Speaker, it seems humiliating the one person that should qualify for a veto card is the Northwest Territories. I'm not saying that lightly that we should have it, I'm saying it's something that we should be able to say. If this development or any development is working either environmentally or in a fiscal sense that benefits the Northwest Territories people, we should be able to stop it immediately and say wait a minute, we need to wake up. But that control, as we all know, lies in Ottawa. As I said even in my Member's statement, that it is ridiculous for whatever reason it is, they don't want to give up that control. If they've just had it so long, they're so used to having their own finger on the button of control, that they're not comfortable letting it go. I don't know.

A few weeks ago I was watching Minister Prentice on television and he was talking about the aboriginal claims and things he has to deal with, and he talked about them as files. Well, Mr. Speaker, I think the Northwest Territories is a little bigger than just a file. I think of it as true people wanting to follow its destiny and it needs the opportunity to do this. So when I talk about taking control of these things such as a land and water board, I don't mean in a sense of we have to be hard on people. I think it's about environmental stewardship. I think it's about economic balance that sets the course again and again about a northern course and about a northern destiny.

This motion says that we have self-respect, Mr. Speaker, and I don't think it says really anything other than that. It's time that Ottawa starts showing some respect back to this Legislature, because we are rightfully in control, we are a responsible government. You know, this creature clause given by DIAND or whoever it is, the bottom line is it is a ridiculous state that does not exist anymore.

The Legislature, a few years ago in the old Assembly, had given unfettered support to the pipeline. You know what? At the day that might have been the right decision, to ensure that industry knew what they were dealing with. I don't blame ministry wanting to have certainty when they want to spend millions of dollars in a region, Mr. Speaker. I certainly welcome that. But, Mr. Speaker, my concern is when this Legislature, the 14th Assembly, had given unfettered attention and respect and said yes, go right ahead, we're in support of the pipeline, all of a sudden our phone stopped ringing with the concerns and respect what can we do for you, how can we make this happen. I say this half jokingly, but I'm sure the Prime Minister doesn't care right now because he sees the territorial government on auto pilot. Well, I've got what I wanted. We know that they're in favour of the pipeline. We know they're in favour of resource development, and, by the way, we control the land and the water boards anyway, so they're on auto pilot so we don't care.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not saying that the territorial government should take stance about saying no more resource development, Mr. Speaker, but we have to find a fair way to have discussion that brings united groups together, such as the aboriginal governments, the territorial government, again to sing in a strong and united voice to say look, Ottawa, we need your attention.

Now, let's get to the next subject when we talk about our Premier being a nice guy in Ottawa. Well, Mr. Speaker, I like the Premier and he is a nice guy.

Aw.

But let's keep in mind, nice is a balance. I don't want him to be nice in Ottawa, because that means he has to be less nice in the Northwest Territories, because I want him to be nice to our people and be tough on that Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker. Be tough on him. He's not going to cry, okay? I feel that the Prime Minister can shoulder a little criticism and I'd like to hear it from our Premier of saying put…Mr. Speaker, I want the Premier to put his foot down and say well, I can't say the right language in the House, but I can say that the Premier can say it in a nice or less nice way of saying that we demand these resources and control over our rightful destiny, Mr. Speaker.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has every right to have their rightful place in Canada, and you know what? I think this is an impoverished situation that's being created. It's not fair. They know it. And as long as we can't bring attention to it, they will continue to ignore us under those circumstances. This motion speaks to cleaning that mess up and it speaks to the fact that we want it done as soon as possible, regardless of whatever little games they're playing in advance of this next election. So, Mr. Speaker, I fully support this motion. Thank you and my colleagues.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. I'll allow the mover of the motion to wrap up. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the comments from the Members. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to conclude, saying that when you look at this motion Mr. Premier is right; it is a strong recommendation to his government to look at working with the aboriginal governments, working with business, working with other strong leaders is the North to bring home a deal that would benefit all of us in the Northwest Territories. So we're not quite home yet in our own home here, so I'd ask the Premier to really seriously consider our recommendation from this motion.

I will ask that all the leaders in the North, and urge the leaders in the North, and ask the people in the North to talk to their leaders in the Sahtu, the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in, Dehcho, Akaitcho, Tlicho, the Metis, the municipal councils. Really talk to your leaders and encourage them to get in touch with the Premier's people, the Cabinet, and say we've got to sit down on this one here.

We have, and has been said, an opportunity to get something done for our people. It's a blessing in disguise. We have the resources, we have the means. Our northern people may be small in numbers, but we're strong in our strength and for the land that we value so much. So I urge again that the leaders ask their people to come forward and stand together, united by a common bond of resources, development, oil and gas, mining, resources in terms of our environment, our land and water because our water is going to be a really valuable commodity in the future. People are not going to want our oil and gas anymore, they're going to want our water. It's going to come; it's been prophesized by our elders.

Mr. Speaker, I say this so we can release the grip of the iron hand of the federal government on the Northwest Territories people.

Iron grip.

We must join together, as the elders have said. We must join together like the arrow, and the arrowhead being us leaders and the stem of the arrow being our people. We shoot with the support that we have from them. And the bow being our elders to support us for what we're going to do for our people, and to guide us and to know who to work with. And our children being the people, as little as they are, but as innocent and honest as they are, shooting the arrow for us. They're a gift from God and I believe in miracles. I think miracles can happen. Look at your own children. They're miracles. Why not believe them?

So, Mr. Speaker, the recommendations to the Premier and his Cabinet to look at our elders' recommendations like a hunter who makes strong recommendations to other hunters to go where there's good moose and caribou to feed their own people. More importantly, to share the moose or caribou, which is a value in fairness and equitable and that everybody should be treated the same, certain parts have to go to certain people.

We in the North are hard workers. Right down the Mackenzie Valley we're not shy of work. Look at the elders' life. They've been here for thousands and thousands of years. We must, as leaders, plug the dam of the resources that are leaving the Northwest Territories.

I thank the Members for their comments and I have to thank the House for allowing us to have this discussion. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion.

Question.

Question is being called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

---Applause