Mr. Speaker, I have sent a letter to the heads of all the aboriginal organizations today and I have laid out what I thought would be a clear statement. It is this government's position that aboriginal people have the inherent right to self-government. We have said that consistently for the last eight years. We have negotiated that in the Charlottetown Accord and we continue to uphold that position, as does, apparently, the federal government. Such a right is in section 35 of the Constitution.

We went further today to say that we are prepared in self-government negotiations to recognize that aboriginal governments would have the legislative capacity to govern and that subject matters contained in the northern accord -- which is oil and gas, and minerals -- must be negotiated in the context of self-government. Aboriginal governments, regional governments or public governments, in the future, will have jurisdiction over such matters and will be tied to whether or not they wish to provide programs and services. So we have been fairly explicit in reaching the concerns of some of the aboriginal leaders.

The concern has been once oil and gas matters have been devolved to the territorial government, does that exclude forever any possibility, in the future, should there be a regional government by the Inuvialuit, Gwich'in, the Sahtu or the Deh Cho, that that would not be available for negotiations. I have said in a letter and I have said directly to them that this means that this government is prepared to support such a notion that in the future, 20 years or 50 years from now, should it become viable to negotiate forms of governments that would provide programs and services to aboriginal people and/or all people within a particular jurisdiction, we are prepared to discuss the extent of the geographic jurisdiction, and the subject matters which will include those that are included now under the northern accord. So this was a specific concern raised by the leaders of the Sahtu and I thought they were of concern to other aboriginal leaders, so I met with them over lunch, having just returned a few minutes ago and this was one of the issues that was raised. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the past, for instance, when we negotiated the framework agreement under the Gwich'in claim and Sahtu claim, there was really no overall government position paper that was prepared to guide us through negotiations. So we have, as a ministry, developed a draft protocol and mandate discussion paper which Cabinet approved for discussion purposes. That is, Cabinet didn't endorse the paper as such but endorsed it for the purpose of consultation with officials of the aboriginal organizations. Some of the aboriginal organizations have responded, others haven't. The nature of the response has been marked by the fact that the federal government has yet to come out with its own paper.

At this time, it's our view that the territorial government will be involved and should be involved in self-government talks as a third party, but we've indicated we are open to discussions with the aboriginal leaders to make a final decision on that. They may very well decide collectively that they would prefer and find it more advantageous if the government comes with either observer status or as part of the federal team, which is the way that the claims negotiations were conducted.

That is the approach we have taken. We have asked very openly for the aboriginal leaders to advise us on the nature of our participation and involvement and the extent to which we will be taking part in the self-government negotiations. The letter that we sent to the aboriginal leaders will be shared with MLAs. I just wanted to make sure that the aboriginal leaders themselves had received the letters before we shared it and made public the letters to Members of the Legislature. So they will be circulated today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's our view that the wording within the northern accord as it is now, which the GNWT is proposing, gives the assurance to the aboriginal groups that it is our legal opinion that nothing in the northern accord prejudices or limits the power and the ability of aboriginal governments or other governments to negotiate subject matters contained within the northern accord at a future date. There may be one or two solitary legal opinions on the other side that do not agree at this time, but it's our view that the wording is generous and broad and provides that assurance, and we believe in that categorically. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has consistently conveyed to the federal government over the last few years that we are prepared to get into self-government discussions as quickly as possible and that the federal policy should be drafted and made available at the earliest possible date. It should be premised on the belief that the First Nations of Canada possess the inherent right to govern themselves; that the right includes many powers and jurisdictions; that it is contained within section 35; that the federal government should take a broad, generous approach to negotiating the rights of First Nations to govern themselves and that we would be supporting such an approach and have been encouraging the federal Minister to move forward as quickly as possible.

Having said that, we also recognize that the Minister has to do his homework, ensure that his colleagues are in support of the principles that he purports to support and believe in, that it's his job to get his colleagues, Cabinet colleagues and Liberal Caucus onside.

So, while recognizing that it should be done as quickly as possible, we've also been generous as a government in waiting for the Minister to deliver a policy that was stated in his own words, "due last April." So we are about a year behind but still optimistic that when the Minister delivers his policy, it will be well received and supported by the First Nations of Canada. Thank you.