Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a very fundamental political issue. The reality is that Northerners should be making those decisions, that if we had the authority over land, water, and resource development, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
This is a federal initiative and it’s one where what has been portrayed is that there is a need to reform the processes in the Northwest Territories.
It’s our opinion that the system we have is fundamentally sound, that the gaps and delays that happen occur when decisions have been made in the North and go to Ottawa. We do not even have, at this late date of our political evolution, the
authority to appoint our own board members. That’s why we signed the agreement-in-principle and are moving on devolution. We fundamentally believe that the system is sound, that our position has been clear since 2009. It’s on our website that the system that’s here should be properly funded, that the structure that’s there should be maintained. That they should look at doing things to clarify, where there are policy issues that are grey, sort those out, properly fund the boards, and delegate simple authorities like making our own board appointments.