It has been almost community-by-community. We spent a great deal of time strategizing on the approach we want to take, but we have also been very careful to keep it away from a prescribed menu approach to transfer talks. That is, we did not want to walk in there with a prescribed process, a prescribed sequence of events that are going to take place and a prescribed scope of what is available and place it in front of a community and they can tick it off as they want. For instance, in one community, they may just want to talk about having an economic development officer report to them on a weekly basis and share information about what they are doing. In another community, they want total devolution from the same position. We know what the general scope of the talks are going to be and we have, for instance, in Fort Good Hope, drafted a transfer agreement on the economic development officer. It started about four years ago and we just finalized it during Mr. Pollard's term last year. We use that as a draft position that is available for other communities if they want total devolution of that position. In other communities, they are asking simply for them to have a reporting relationship. There is no prescription because, again, we think communities can define that and we will work with them so that they are not afraid of us having a predetermined conclusion to the talks. We get into it, but as we are developing them, I think people are going to see a range of what is available under Economic Development, Health or Housing. As more and more communities start to define what it is they want, then communities will be able to decide. But, initially, there weren't any of the prescriptions that people feel we should have had. They've been developed jointly and that has been the key element in community transfer. They are all being developed jointly.
Stephen Kakfwi on Bill 1: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1994-95Committee Report 2-12(5): Review Of The 1994-95 Main Estimates
In the Legislative Assembly on February 21st, 1994. See this statement in context.
Bill 1: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1994-95Committee Report 2-12(5): Review Of The 1994-95 Main Estimates
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 20th, 1994
Page 271
See context to find out what was said next.