Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The way I understood and the way I’ve seen devolution unfold, it’s like the birthing of a new nation. Any transition to a new form of life, there’s growing pains. The birthing of a new nation is through the devolution process.

When there are time constraints put on negotiations or time pressures, decisions have to be made. I agree that decisions possibly had to be made. I’m not too aware of what type of decisions that needed to be made because we weren’t part to the actual negotiations or the meetings with the federal government. I understand that some of the Aboriginal governments thought that the protocol agreement they thought was going to be worked out fell apart and that it had to be put aside to have this deal signed. My understanding from my leaders is the protocol agreement was an avenue for the Aboriginal governments to be part of the negotiation table. However, that agreement didn’t come to fruition, so really they were left with the option you are either in or you’re out. It was put to them that they felt because of the protocol agreement the Aboriginal governments felt that they couldn’t be part of something they weren’t happy with, just like any other legislation that we’ve debated in the four years of this House.

Mr. Speaker, the negotiations are between the federal and territorial governments. Also, in my role as chief negotiator of the Sahtu land claims, our vision of our own government was a third level of government, not the federal government’s interpretation of a municipal type of government. So even to the negotiators at that table, it helped to be forceful, determined, that we are talking about a third level of government. I am not too sure if that really rang the bell with the federal government.

So even from the starting point of the negotiations, you need to have government-to-government-to-government discussion or talks. The way I’ve been told is the GNWT, on behalf of all the people of the Northwest Territories, was negotiating with the federal government and that the GNWT were the

main players at the table with the Aboriginal governments sitting on the side and not having much opportunity to voice their issues on certain clauses of the agreement, and that internal negotiations with the Aboriginal governments isn’t quite as cordial as we were led to believe. That was one of the frustrating points of this deal coming before the House.

I’ve always agreed that the devolution deal should be done in the Northwest Territories. How it is done is a question that many of us have been scratching our head about, how this process came to be. As I heard from Mr. Menicoche, a lot of people in my region have not yet read the Devolution Agreement and the specific clauses in there. One question they had was how come the Norman Wells oilfield is not part of the deal. Yet, in the Devolution Agreement the GNWT is going to assume that aspect of the Norman Wells oilfield. Under our land claim, it’s supposed to be with the Sahtu government. So why would we want to give something for the Government of the Northwest Territories when we fought hard for it in the Sahtu land claim? There are a lot of things in there that are questioned by our leadership as to the GNWT’s role in putting this deal together.

So if it benefits all the people, shouldn’t that mean that all the people should be at the table? All the people need to have a say at the table. Just, again, like some of the legislation that we are debating over the years, it has to benefit the people.

I take this opportunity with the motion here, brought forward by Mr. Menicoche, seconded by Mr. Beaulieu, that this gives us a chance to go back to the basics of building a relationship, building trust amongst our own people, a relationship between the Aboriginal governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories to do some work on the protocol agreement. It’s so strong to have everybody at the table negotiating in one voice. I think this can be done. We are no strangers to challenges. We have survived the harshest winters. We have survived under the most extreme conditions for thousands and thousands of years and we’ll still do that. We are tough people in the North.

There are more changes coming to the Northwest Territories. Mr. Premier is right; we need to take the future in our hands. He’s right on the button there. Not with one hand as he has the deal now, we need two hands for all people to make something of the North. Right now it’s not there. You’ve got to treat everybody fairly with the Devolution Agreement. That, for us, is not being done right now. It will impact on self-government negotiations and it will impact on land management. It’s been noted by analysis by people who studied our self-government agreements, our land claim agreements and this devolution will have impacts

on our self-government and our land management and the Norman Wells oilfield. That is not right.

So this condition will hopefully have the opportunity and the fortitude and clear vision to look at it soberly and say this is what the deal is all about. The federal government is offloading its programs and services and wiping its hands and saying now it’s yours. We have to be really clear on this. I think these 12 months would help us do that.

Again, to have everybody on side for this new territory would possibly fall under the Devolution Agreement. It is going to give us the lift that we need, like the Premier said, to support things that we want.

You know what, Mr. Speaker? For so long we’ve been used to the federal government telling us what to do, how much money they are going to give us and how they dictate to us in our lives. It’s going to be different when we start doing it ourselves. We will have nobody else to blame or to criticize but ourselves. We are going to take that chance. We need to be sure that everybody is at the table with clear eyes and clear vision that this is the responsibility as we are going to take on ourselves as we ask people who live in public housing, be responsible. You’ve got to pay the rent. The money is going to stop. If you are going to smash your windows or doors, you have to pay for it. It’s the same kind of message that we have to give to our people. If we are going to take on devolution, be at the table, be willing to be accountable and responsible and not to blame the territorial government, the Aboriginal governments or the federal government. Create your own destiny, create your own life. That’s the message we have to give to our people, not blame each other or anybody else because we become victims here. That’s what we are doing. That’s the clear message we want, we have to be darn sure that we are all at the table and we will continue to fight. This land is our land. We’re not going anywhere. So you need to get the landowners, the rightful landowners, at the table to make these decisions for ourselves.

We have our own laws. Those laws symbolize the Tulita and Yamoria, the beaver skins, the arrows and the smokes. We need to make those kind of strong laws. So these 12 months are precious time. We’re either going to make it or we’re going to continue fighting for a long, long time. I think we all have the same aspirations. How we go about it will determine our own ability to make it work.

I support the motion 100 percent. It should have been done a long time ago. However, it’s being done now and I look forward to this motion coming together. If we don’t do it, we’re going to lose more than just dollars and cents. Thank you, Mr. Menicoche and Mr. Beaulieu, for bringing this motion to the floor.