Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today I'm going to speak about two major Indigenous government agreements residing within the Thebacha constituency.
First, Madam Speaker, the NWT Metis Nation has been negotiating with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada, for at least 26 years, in an effort to eventually reach a final selfgovernment agreement. I have spoken several times about this claim throughout this term, and there seems to have been little done in advancing, let alone finalizing this claim. I know the leadership of the NWT Metis Nation is keen on advancing this agreement as much as possible within the life of this Assembly. There is a concern among NWT Metis leadership about the lack of progress on these negotiations.
In addition, Madam Speaker, 2022 marks 20 years since Salt River First Nation's Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement was signed. Since that time, the agreement in its entirety has not been fully implemented by the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada. There are still sections of that agreement which remains outstanding and have not been settled in trilateral negotiations with the territorial and federal governments. Salt River wants to receive the same treatment as any other reserve in southern Canada. Negotiations on the details on funding for core infrastructure and the development of the Salt River Reserve is a primary goal for Salt River, and they remain hopeful to advance that before the end of the 19th Assembly. I will continue to push for the advancement of both the NWT Metis claim, along with the full implementation of the Salt River Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement.
Ultimately, Madam Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a tall order that it needs to fulfill because there are at least 15 selfgovernment agreements or treaty land entitlement agreements that are concurrently working on. It appears that the resources of Executive and Indigenous Affairs may be spread too thin since they have several fronts they are negotiating on. I do have some suggestions that EIA ought to consider to help in this area.
For example, instead of working on all 15 claims at once, they should identify the claims closest to finalization, and focus on whatever the two or three those may be, and work to advance and finalize those within the life of one Assembly. Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
In closing, Madam Speaker, I think Executive and Indigenous Affairs needs to manage its workload and expectations a little better so they can have a better track record on settling the many outstanding land claims and selfgovernment agreements that exist within the Northwest Territories. I think Indigenous governments would be open to this so they can see more overall progress from the Government of the Northwest Territories to show for itself. I will have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Member for Yellowknife North.
