Yes, Mr. Chairman, I have opening comments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to thank the Members of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight for referring Bill 34, Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement Act, to Committee of the Whole for consideration.
I'd like to take a little time to provide some context on how we have gotten to this point and deal with some specific issues concerning the legislation.
Mr. Chairman, there are three pieces of legislation required to be passed in the Legislative Assembly to give effect to the Tlicho agreement. The bill we are considering today, the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement Act, and two other pieces of legislation will be considered in the next Legislative Assembly, the Tlicho Community Government Act and the Tlicho Community Service Agency Act.
Bill 34 approves and gives effect to the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement Act. It gives effect to the Tlicho tax treatment agreement, provides a mechanism for the transfer of personal property and provides legal recognition of the Tlicho agreement, the Tlicho tax treatment agreement and Tlicho laws.
The Tlicho land claims and self-government agreement was signed by the three parties in Rae on August 25th, after more than 10 long, hard years of negotiation. In reality, the negotiation of this agreement took much longer if you take into account the time spent negotiating the Dene/Metis comprehensive claim. The work that went into the comprehensive claim and its ultimate breakdown was, in many ways, the origin of this claim. For the Tlicho this has been a long, difficult and expensive process as the negotiations of this agreement were financed by loans from the Government of Canada.
As you can appreciate, Mr. Chairman, there have been many important events and hard earned milestones on the way to this agreement for the Tlicho. The Tlicho people worked with their neighbours in Akaitcho and the Deh Cho to negotiate agreements that ensure that all parties' interests are protected in overlapping areas. These side agreements show that our people can collaborate to ensure that self-government and land claims agreements can be negotiated without compromising third-party interests.
This agreement is unique in that it's the only agreement that I am aware of that was initialed twice by the chief negotiators. After the first initialing last fall, the three parties undertook an unprecedented public review and comment period where they invited comments from all interested individuals and groups. More than 40 groups were directly invited to review the agreement and to comment. The public review and comment period built in a series of meetings with individual groups, including several public meetings on the agreement. This public review and comment period resulted in a number of changes to the agreement. More importantly, it provided an important and public opportunity for interested parties to raise any issues of concern.
At the end of this process, the agreement was initialed for a second time and the Tlicho people voted to ratify the agreement. A total of 93 percent of eligible Tlicho voters participated in the ratification process. Eighty-four percent of those voters were in favour of the agreement. I'm sure that you will agree, Mr. Chairman, that by any reasonable measure this is an overwhelming endorsement of the agreement.
For these reasons, the Tlicho are anxious to proceed with the steps necessary to get to the effective date. At this time, the Tlicho will begin to implement their agreement and move forward to secure a prosperous future for their people. They view this legislation as a critical and symbolic step in this process.
Mr. Chairman, this bill is also important for the implementation of the vision of the Northwest Territories that Members of this Legislative Assembly set out at the beginning of our term. Towards a Better Tomorrow is the framework that all of us agreed upon. It communicated our collective vision to all people in the Northwest Territories.
Towards a Better Tomorrow stated our commitment as a legislature to work in partnership with aboriginal governments so that aboriginal people would have greater self-determination over their social, cultural and political destiny.
One of our common strategies is to foster mutual, respectful and cooperative partnerships with aboriginal governments. We commit to supporting negotiation and implementation of land claims and self-government agreements. During the term of the 14th Assembly, we have made a lot of progress by supporting aboriginal people's desire to be full partners with us as independent governments and to work with us towards other important initiatives, such as devolution and resource revenue sharing.
The positive relationships that we have built with aboriginal groups over the past four years are extremely important. All of us, whether leaders at the territorial level or the self-government level, must continue to work hard on these positive relationships.
I believe that if we support this bill's passage during the 14th Assembly it will send a clear signal to aboriginal leaders that we are a legislature that supports self-government as we stated at the beginning of our term. It would further demonstrate that our commitment to partnerships on any initiatives goes hand in hand with our collective will to finalize self-government and land claims.
Concerns have been expressed by some MLAs that passing legislation to give effect to the Tlicho agreement will change the entire system of governance in the Northwest Territories. In many ways, Mr. Chairman, our system of governance in the Northwest Territories is constantly changing. These changes will be slow and incremental, as we move forward with new governance arrangements in all regions. The bill we are considering today is one step in this process.
In considering this bill and the Tlicho agreement, it is important to point out that the agreement applies to people on Tlicho lands or living in Tlicho communities. The agreement ensures that all people in the Tlicho region, whether they are Tlicho citizens or not, will receive comparable levels of programs and services.
Mr. Chairman, the community governments that will be established on the effective date will represent both Tlicho and non-Tlicho citizens. The Tlicho community services agencies that will be established pursuant to territorial legislation will deliver programs and services for all residents during the first 10 years of the agreement and possibly longer. These are the examples of how our government and aboriginal governments can work in collaboration to ensure the interests of all people are protected.
Also, we should remember that all residents of the Tlicho are and will continue to be protected by the Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Given this agreement, constitutional protection does not take away individual rights within our society. Furthermore, there are specific provisions in the Tlicho agreement that protect the existing and future rights of other aboriginal peoples.
I know there have been concerns raised by the North Slave Metis Alliance with respect to their rights. In an ideal world, Mr. Chairman, all negotiations would proceed at the same pace and result in agreements at the same time. This, unfortunately, is not the case. To ensure that processes are not held up, we must look for ways to protect the rights of other aboriginal people as agreements are being completed. We believe that section 2.7 of the Tlicho agreement provides the specific guarantees that ensure the protection of rights of other aboriginal peoples.
Mr. Chairman, we're asking Members of this Legislative Assembly to pass the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement Act. It is another signal of our commitment to ensure aboriginal people have greater self-determination over their social, cultural and political destiny. This agreement and legislation to approve it is an important step in this process.
I say all this to provide some context behind a decision to support the Tlicho in their aspirations and to move forward with this legislation during the 14th Assembly. This legislation is an important first step in implementation of the Tlicho agreement and one that we hope Members will support.
As someone who has been personally involved in the negotiation process since its very early stages, I believe the Tlicho agreement has set a new standard for land and self-government claims across the country. I firmly believe it is good for the Tlicho and good for the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho, Mr. Chairman.
---Applause