Mr. Speaker, I have a return to a question asked by Mr. Fred Koe on December 10 regarding the Gwich'in final agreement. The Member, being recently involved in these negotiations as the member of the Gwich'in negotiating team, is fully aware that the Government of the NWT is committed to approving the Gwich'in final agreement and the implementation plan, and related financial agreements as soon as they are completed.

The importance of implementation planning cannot be underestimated. The Auditor General, among others, has stressed that, based on the experience of the James Bay and the Inuvialuit land claims, a final agreement is not enough. An implementation plan must be developed which identifies in detail what must be done, who does it, the funding required and who pays. These requirements are now captured by federal government policy.

The implementation plan must be sufficiently precise and clear so that every party knows where it stands. The achievement of implementation obligations and the expenditure of implementation dollars must be measurable and accountable.

The Member also knows the position of the Government of the NWT in the development of implementation plans is based on the principle that the negotiation and implementation of land claims is a federal responsibility. This means that the incremental costs to the Government of the NWT of a land claims agreement will and should be borne by the federal government and the implementation plan designed accordingly.

The Government of the NWT is not prepared, in the current restraint environment, to run the risk that funds committed to programs and services already pressed for resources will need to be diverted to land claims obligations because the federal government is refusing to live up to its obligations.

A lot of work has been done in recent months to ensure that an implementation plan and related financial agreements are completed to the satisfaction of all parties. The Minister for Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs has written to Minister Siddon reaffirming our support for an early ratification, but outlining the outstanding issues and our concerns. The Government of the NWT is doing everything that it can to ensure that the Gwich'in final agreement is ratified in a reasonable time frame.