Thank you. Yesterday the Government Leader indicated that cabinet agrees with the general direction of the report, "Strength At Two Levels," and in particular the major emphasis the report places on transferring significantly more authority, responsibility and resources to communities. These transfers will give community residents more control over their own lives and will also create more local jobs.
We know that MLAs and communities will judge our performance on this item more than on any other issue and, on behalf of my cabinet colleagues and our Government Leader, I want to state very clearly that community self-government is and will be a major priority. The Ministry of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs is taking the lead role in implementing community transfer agreements. A community transfer committee, made up of deputy ministers and chaired by my deputy minister, is in place to oversee this process. A full-time working group which will report to the committee is being established, and each department will be instructed to work closely with them. Regional directors will also be closely linked to the process.
However, we know that this project will not succeed if it is shaped and driven by headquarters. Community and aboriginal leaders and Members of this House have a critically important role to play. We have some ideas, but we need your views and your active involvement to make this initiative work.
Our goal is to help interested communities establish much stronger governments at the community level. This is not a simple matter. Each of our communities is unique, and each may have its own problems and priorities. What we must do, together, is develop an approach that has some basic guidelines and consistencies yet is flexible enough to accommodate the differing needs of interested communities.
Some communities may be ready to assume broad responsibilities; others may want to focus on one or two program areas; others may want to start by consolidating, under one roof, the responsibilities being currently exercised in the community before they assume new ones; and still others may want to continue as they are now. I must also stress that we can only deal with a reasonable number of communities at any one time.
One important issue we must come to grips with, especially with the chiefs and band councils in Dene communities, is the role aboriginal self-government should play in this initiative. While this is a question we are willing to address, it is not one for which we have the answers. We will be seeking your advice on this sensitive but important issue.
The community transfer committee is in the process of developing a comprehensive strategy for implementing community transfer agreements. A kick-off phase will give us an opportunity to inform northern residents about our intentions and to seek advice from community and aboriginal leaders, and MLAs, on the major elements of the strategy. A somewhat longer pre-negotiation phase will provide the government and interested communities with time to properly prepare themselves for negotiations.
We are serious about making community self-government a major focus of our term of office. We are prepared to go one step further and commit this government to making every effort possible to incorporate aspirations for aboriginal self-government into policies and a process for implementing community self-government.
Implementing community transfer agreements will be no simple task. The lack of success in past years bears this out. However, with the advice and active participation of MLAs, aboriginal and community leaders, I am certain that important changes in the areas of community and aboriginal self-government will be realized during the term of this government. Thank you.