Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure where the federal MLA is getting his information from, but most of it seems to be manufactured by the media, and I don't see any areas where we have a problem with reconciliation. If anything, we are the leading edge of negotiations of self-government in Canada.

We have 15 negotiating tables, and we have negotiated self-government agreements with the Tlicho and the Deline, and those have been negotiated with the involvement of the federal Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the Aboriginal government. I think what the Member is referring to is the 10 principles that were released by the working group of federal ministers, which included one principle which said they were going to revisit the fiscal relationships for the delivery of programs and services to Aboriginal people.

We had intergovernmental council. We had a very fulsome discussion. The chair of the Standing Committee of Priorities and Planning was there. I was privy to all of the discussions, and we are all working together to provide for incremental funding, working with the federal government to try to advance that, so that it works in the best interests of Aboriginal governments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Perhaps I will clarify my sources. They come from the Indigenous governments themselves who responded to the Premier's claims in the red alert; so it is not largely words from Ottawa. It is words from the people of the Northwest Territories. The Dene Nation, for example, passed a resolution calling on direct funding for programs and services to Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories. Does the Premier support that resolution?

I didn't get a clear answer from the Premier, there. I'm looking to see, you know, if the future of the Northwest Territories is going to be a complex one with many different levels of government and many different responsibilities. How is this government ensuring that we have an equity of service provision across the territory with the negotiation of these self-government agreements? It's important that Northerners can expect the same high-quality service from every level of government regardless of whether it's federal, territorial, or Indigenous. So what are we doing to ensure that our Indigenous partners have this support and the funding they need to deliver this?

We work with every government, national government, especially ones that sign on to devolution. We have memoranda of understanding. We meet on a regular, formal government-to-government basis on a negotiation of self-government, on the delivery of programs and services. We have negotiated core operating principles. Not all Aboriginal governments want to sit at the table, but for the ones that are prepared to negotiate tri-laterally, we ensure that we have a consistency of service and we recognize through modelling that one of the problems with self-government or land claims is they're not fully funded. That was one of the basic tenets of reconciliation, that the federal government has said that they will work to fulfill those areas where they should be fully funded.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier providing clarity on this. It seems like this current federal government is taking a very proactive approach in reconciling with Indigenous governments in Canada and Indigenous nations in Canada. Would the Premier agree with that assessment? Because it sounds like all the funding for self-government in the Northwest Territories is coming from Ottawa regardless of all the top-ups of funding that we need to ensure equity of service. Would he agree that the federal government is fulfilling its mandate towards reconciliation? Thank you.

Reconciliation, we fully support it, but talk is just talk. I guess the proof will be when the money starts flowing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.