This is page numbers 5493 - 5530 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was territories.

Topics

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As a government we’re always reviewing our programs so that we can improve upon them and make them better. As I said, we have a number of different programs to assist harvesters. CHAP funding is one part of it. The other part of it is the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program where we guarantee prices for furs. For those active trappers that go out and trap and sell at least 20 pelts a year, we also provide a Grubstake Program so that they can get a grubstake before the next season starts. We review our guaranteed prices every year based on the auctions and results of the auctions. Before a trapper goes out he knows how much he’s going to get for a pelt that’s been well maintained and has been cured properly. Every opportunity is there for a trapper to maximize their returns.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a similar vein as my colleague Mr. Ramsay who was raising concerns about what’s been decided or discussed about this bill presented by our Member of Parliament, which is C-530. I’m not concerned about the autonomy of the Member of Parliament’s issue of being able to advocate things he thinks are important. That’s not the issue at hand. My concern is, although I agree with his spirit and intent, what has he done to communicate this particular issue with this particular government, which is accountable to the Members of this House and to the members of the public. Mr. Speaker, in short, has the Finance Minister received any official correspondence from the Member of Parliament on this particular issue, and has he taken it to Cabinet for any official decision and direction, and how has

he communicated that to the Members of this House? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member of Parliament indicated to us what his intention was, and as I indicated to the Member for Kam Lake, on the 20th of October

the Premier wrote to the Member indicating to him that we had our own process underway with the federal government that we were fully engaged in and on a government-to-government basis with ourselves and the federal government as well as the other two territories to sort out our borrowing limit. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, again, clearly I want to say I’m not against the spirit and the intent, but it seems to be a real communication problem here. Mr. Speaker, I can’t imagine such a significant change in the way the government can operate its business to the people of the Northwest Territories. I can’t imagine such a significant change in the way we can borrow money and put risk at hand here, that this government wouldn’t communicate some of these intentions, either the Premier’s position, interest or whatnot, to the Member of Parliament, and he wouldn’t reach out to Members of this House and express that this is happening. So, Mr. Speaker, it’s a bit of a surprise.

Would the Minister of Finance agree to table the Premier’s letter before this House or leave it up to us to access it through an ATIP request? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, we have indicated to the Member of Parliament that the processes we are involved in as a government with the federal government, which is basically the status quo that the Members are aware of, is the position of this government. The Member of Parliament’s intent to proceed how he sees fit through a process that they control may take years is his business. We have stated clearly what the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories is. I will check to see if we can forward the Premier’s letter to committee for their perusal. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, my frustration is not directed at the Finance Minister, but the fact is this does not represent a unified voice of this Assembly. We hear how hard that this government wants to work together on a devolution agreement, bring everybody together, work together on the same page. Well, this bill seems to derail that. Again, I know it’s the Member of Parliament’s business to do what he feels fit, but you would think that the communications works… If you know something so important, why didn’t you tell this side of the House, because it makes everyone over here look bad that

we don’t know what’s happening, and does the government support it? Mr. Speaker, has this Cabinet taken an official position on this particular case and why have they not spoken to the Members of this House such as Regular Members? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

We have taken an official position on this. We’ve indicated to the Member in writing that we are committed to the process that’s underway with the federal Department of Finance and the other two territories. It’s clear for us. Now, if the Members are suggesting somehow that we should be out doing some kind of legwork for the Member of Parliament, then we can have that discussion. We were clear that the issue was dealt with. The Member of Parliament has a track that he’s on but we’re not involved in that. We have a process with the federal government and the other two territories. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact is we have a lot of infrastructure issues and we could go on at length about highway needs, hydro needs. We could go on about a lot of things that are very important to the future of the Northwest Territories. Yes, the spirit and the intent may work to accomplish this, which I’m not against. The fact is it seems like there’s a huge gap in the communication, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, to the Minister of Finance, I think this should be a Finance Ministers’ discussion or Premier to Prime Minister discussion in Ottawa, but not an MP forcing this issue to be discussed.

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Finance see risk taken to our negotiations to this government trying to increase our borrowing limit to what’s considered a responsible level? Does he see that this is now going to cause problems? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, we have a clear process with the federal government that we, collectively, have agreed on, and we are confident that that will allow us to achieve the goals to look at our circumstances as it pertains to our borrowing limit, come up with a result, hopefully, in the next few months to resolve those issues for the three territories. I don’t know the exact timing and sequence of events for Private Member’s Bills, but what little I know tells me that you have almost as much of a chance of winning the lottery as you do getting a Private Member’s Bill through the House of Parliament in Ottawa. The Member of Parliament has chosen a course of action, trying to advance what he thinks are northern interests, but we have our process and we’ve taken our position and it’s clear. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier in terms of his meeting with the aboriginal leaders later on this afternoon or this evening in Edmonton. I want to ask the Premier in terms of his discussion and in light of any type of documentation or indication from the aboriginal governments, in terms of their support to sign on with the territorial government to begin the next steps in terms of this draft agreement-in-principle. Can the Premier inform the House and the people of the North in terms of what type of reaction he has from the aboriginal governments so far?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the process that has been laid out, the chief negotiator sent a letter to the aboriginal groups to seek their input and gave a response time of the 31st . We’ve been sticking to the process of waiting

until they have had a chance to look at it and make response. We’ve started receiving those responses and looking at those areas where there seems to be movement to move forward, but there are issues and concerns raised. There are also some pretty straightforward comments that have been made publicly that they are not interested in sitting at that table. What the meeting is tonight is to see, in fact, where the regional leaders sit on this and to see if we can find a way forward together. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I was carbon copied a letter by the Sahtu Secretariat certainly indicating their position on the draft AIP. I want to ask the Premier, in terms of my regional position here from the leaders, the chiefs and the Metis presidents, in terms of the attitude or the position of the federal government and the territorial government on the government-to-government relationship, and they certainly didn’t feel that they were participating as much as they wanted to and several issues from the Sahtu were not left to be discussed and they certainly don’t feel that it can be discussed any further when they start, if they do start the next process for the AIP. Can the Premier indicate to me in the House as to how concerns like this that are in the Sahtu can be addressed so we can feel comfortable enough to put our hand to the pen to sign this deal?

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, the process and the communications between the aboriginal groups and ourselves and aboriginal governments on what we need to do going forward and some of those concerns, we’ve been tracking those. Again, with respect to the process, I’d like to sit down with the aboriginal leaders and have the discussion specifically about the points they’ve raised. Some have put it quite publicly, their emotions, and, in

fact, naming of negotiators to go forward with concerns about a process going forward. I hope that as we have our meeting this evening, that we will be able to put certain concerns to rest and address the other concerns as we go forward through final negotiations. That’s the hope and we’ll have to see where that goes. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that the Premier has much success in terms of the negotiations or discussions that are going to happen in Edmonton this evening. Certainly the issues of the Sahtu are very important to us, to a point where it stated clearly in my letter from our chairperson, carbon copied to me, that we are not prepared to advance the territorial agenda until some very basic concerns of the Sahtu are addressed. I would like to ask the Premier in terms of what type of indications that would weigh, I guess, in terms of this Cabinet decision to say, yes, these are the basic issues of the Sahtu that can be addressed in terms of our self-government negotiations in our communities that we feel that we are developing our own level of government, and certainly that weighs heavily on the minds of our leaders.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think the Member is probing to see if I will give him information as to what might become a response to a question, or an issue that may get raised this evening or as we go forward into making a decision on this AIP as the GNWT. The simple fact, again, of honouring the process, wanting to sit down with the regional leadership and hear from them directly on some of the major issues, what can we address through an AIP and what is more important, I guess, addressed through the self-government process. Again, the AIP is a devolution of authorities over public lands. It is Crown lands that remain being administered by the federal government at this time. That is where we are at this process. I, as I have committed to Members and have followed up regularly with updates, will continue to do that as we progress on this file. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of this whole draft AIP, it comes down to one issue. It comes down to trust with our aboriginal governments and this government here. So far we have not seen that in terms of how this process comes out to play in terms of we have to post this agreement on CBC for everybody to read. Mr. Speaker, our leaders here are saying that we need more than just having a government-to-government. We need a third government. I am not too sure when this decision was made to have a territorial government and federal government come to a deal and then turn around to say to the

aboriginal governments, sign if you want or like this deal. We need to have a government-to-government relationship. That is a basic fundamental question. When was the decision made to have a government-to-government and not include the aboriginal governments on the same table with the negotiators? My negotiators are saying they were just standing by and watching the process happen.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think the Member, as well, has past experience in negotiations. As they go to an AIP, once the initialling happens, at that point, then, you have your technical briefings, have the discussion about what it means as you enter into then the final set of negotiations. We haven’t even entered in. We haven’t even initialled an agreement-in-principle. In fact, as I said earlier, aboriginal governments have been part of this negotiation, informing of this AIP, especially in the Chapter 6 portion of that. The decision made was expressed at a number of meetings by the federal negotiator in the position that has been taken that is put forward in the AIP process. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement asking the honourable Premier and in his capacity as well as Aboriginal Affairs Minister. The Dehcho First Nations are really quite upset about the Order-in-Council by the federal government. I would like to ask at what stage was our government involved or notified of the decision to remove the subsurface rights aspect of the protection of the Edhezhie area, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much.