Mr. Speaker, it has been 24 years since the Akaitcho Dene First Nation, the Government of Canada, and Government of the Northwest Territories came together to sign an interim measures Agreement, and they worked towards a land claim selfgovernment agreement. Negotiations to reach an agreementinprinciple have contingencies since then without much progress until last year when the former Premier Caroline Cochrane announced that there's an agreement on land claims and selfgovernment agreement for the Akaitcho was finally in sight. A draft agreement was reached last year, and Premier Cochrane stressed that this was a result of the GNWT's sincere interest in building meaningful partnership with Indigenous governments. Premier Cochrane's term ended afterwards, but her Premier seemed hopeful that she was handing her successor every opportunity to finally reach an agreementinprinciple within a few years.
The people sorry, the Akaitcho region needs a land claim, a selfgovernment agreement with the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada. They need control over their lands, access to resources and royalties, and have a recognized selfgovernment. It's also true through the fact Northwest Territories needs a land claim and selfagreement with Akaitcho, an agreement on land claim sorry, this land claim is an economic environmental industry wants to investment in cooperative Indigenous people in their governments. Everyone benefits in a true nationtonation relationship with the GNWT and Indigenous governments because it means more prosperity for everyone. This isn't a conversation that's just about distribution of wealth and land. It's a conversation about the future and shared wealth where everyone in the Northwest Territories can thrive.
Our new government has signalled that it wants to pursue these nationtonation relationships. Our new Premier has the vision of collaborative government in the Northwest Territories where power is shared between them and Indigenous governments. The vision is simply incomplete without the land claims and selfgovernment agreement.
Agreement with the Akaitcho, now that we have a new government that seeks to build upon the work of the last government which introduced United Nation Declaration of Human Rights of Indigenous People and signed the draft agreement with the Akaitcho leadership, my people want to know what will happen now. Where does the work and agreementinprinciple stand today? And what is the new government doing to get it done properly for the fair cooperation with the Akaitcho Dene First Nation. I look forward to hearing from the Premier on this progress made towards the goal later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
