Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to provide an update on the negotiations for the Devolution and Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we continue to focus our attention on the benefits from resource development that should flow to the Northwest Territories to address the immediate pressure and impacts resource development is
having on our communities. We remain of the view that the long-term solution to this issue is the negotiation of a fair devolution agreement that provides NWT governments with the resources and authorities to mitigate these impacts.
It is for this reason we believe that northern control of northern resources is the principle at the heart of our participation in the Northern Strategy. Any effective, sustainable strategy for the North must be based on the transfer of responsibility for northern lands and resources from the federal government to northern governments. Equally important, this transfer must be accompanied by an agreement that makes northern governments the primary beneficiaries of the revenues generated by these northern resources.
After the last formal negotiating session last spring, several issues remained outstanding, the most important being the language describing net fiscal benefits in the agreement-in-principle. A resolution to this issue has been made particularly difficult, given the position taken by the federal government that a final determination on this matter cannot be reached until the Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing has issued its report.
As I noted in the sessional statement, it is for this reason that we worked, over the summer, to ensure the expert panel and the Panel on Fiscal Imbalance established by the Council of the Federation fully understood our views on the fiscal issues facing the Northwest Territories. We expect both panels will make recommendations on the treatment of resource revenues for provinces and territories, recommendations that will profoundly impact on devolution negotiations.
Mr. Speaker, we have also been working to resolve the remaining issues frustrating the negotiating process with federal Ministers. Since last spring, Minister Roland, Minister Bell and I have met with the Deputy Prime Minister and other federal Ministers. At my last meeting with the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Honourable Andy Scott, at the end of September, I proposed a number of potential solutions to resolve the remaining issues and move us toward an AIP. Minister Scott agreed to consider these proposals as a basis for resuming negotiations, and promised to respond to us in the near future. It is our hope that the federal government will respond in a positive manner and honour the commitment made by the Prime Minister to reach an AIP this year and a final agreement in 2006.
Over the summer months, I also had the opportunity to meet individually and collectively with aboriginal leaders to discuss these negotiations. We agreed to continue to work together to seek resolution of the outstanding issues in a collaborative way, resulting in a fair and equitable deal for the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, a Devolution and Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement is a crucial element to the continued development of the Northwest Territories and to increase investment in critically needed programs in our communities. It is a goal we must continue to work toward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause