Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I speak today on the process that led to the devolution agreement-in-principle to take stock of where this
leaves us now and consider where we go from here.
The Akaitcho and Dehcho governments will have nothing to do with an agreement they say threatens their treaty rights and resolution of their claims. Some say the process used to complete the AIP violates the terms of the Gwich’in, Sahtu and Tlicho agreements. The GNWT’s and Canada’s rush to sign the AIP has resulted in such confusion that concerns about content, process, or both remain unclear. Aboriginal opponents say the GNWT should never have agreed to negotiate without the First Nations at the table, while our government claims they were meaningfully involved all along, implying that Aboriginal partners were aware of and accepted negotiation points.
Yet we signed onto a federal divide and conquer strategy, a bilateral agreement that clearly does not sit well with our partners. At the very least, such a strategy reflects poorly on this government’s relations with its Aboriginal partners. If they were at the table and involved, how could we have created a situation where some of the fiercest critics that this government has, say that this government has destroyed trust and partnership that has taken years to build? That’s where we are now; right where we knew we’d be if we’d went ahead with this agreement in this way.
But what lies ahead? I and many others are on record saying that any deal to download an inadequate, underfunded and unrepresentative federal system is a bad deal. To move forward on a sound basis, we must do three things: first, go back to the basics with our Aboriginal government partners, insisting upon the full, main table participation their position deserves and salvage some mutual respect and common vision for the future; second, cut ourselves loose from any federal scheme to settle our constitutional future piecemeal; and finally, Mr. Speaker, take the time necessary to involve all our citizens in meaningful consultation on what our resource management regime should be.
Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal governments are major landholders and, as such, an essential partner of a sound, comprehensive and sustainable NWT land and resource management system. Before we have an agreement-in-principle we must all agree on the principles. I look forward to seeing this resolved in the immediate future. Mahsi.