This is page numbers 105 - 162 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I already said that relationships were critical. I have to recognize that one negotiator at one table might seem like the worst person in the world, and the next table, they might be the best. I have seen that because I have had people come to me and say, "You need to fire So-and-so." Then I went and met with another Indigenous government, and they said, "That is the best person we ever had." What it tells me is: we need to have more than one negotiator and be willing to move them up. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. I will move to Member for Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. Pursuant to Rule 82(1), no Member shall speak for more than 10 minutes at any one time in Committee of the Whole. I am seeking unanimous consent to amend it to five minutes for the purposes of the mandate discussion.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

The Member for Yellowknife North is seeking unanimous consent to limit questions to each priority to five minutes. Do I have unanimous consent?

---Unanimous consent denied

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

We will resume, keep it at 10 minutes then. Member for Yellowknife North.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 123

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is: in self-government agreements, we have two agreements concluded. Can I just have a little more explanation of where that number came from? Do we have any idea of whether they are the self-government land claim or which two, just some more background on that point? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 123

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Madam Premier.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this point, I am not willing to name them because they are not settled. It would be inappropriate for me to say, "These are going to be settled," and then I go into a meeting and I get slaughtered. It is like, "What do you mean?" We have a few that are fairly close, but they change day by day because one that we thought was close wanted to be off the table. I had to go and mend the relationship and say, "Come back." That same one is back on the table. It is impossible to say that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. I will go to the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will make a quick statement about this. Out of all our 22 items, if I had to label a keystone item, this would be it. I think a lot hinges on this mandate item. I want to just make a quick comment about Oliver Edjericon, who is my great-grandfather, who signed a Treaty 8 in Deninu Kue in 1900. I often think what he would say if he was in here. I could imagine him saying, "What took you so bloody long?" I think in honour of our relations who signed that, I think we have to do it right and do it properly. To echo what my colleague from Thebacha said about having consultation, not just consultation but meaningful consultation, and get these meetings done right. My question: I am looking at page 8 again. It mentions that there is a special joint committee here. Will the Premier be open to having any of our elected Indigenous leaders to sit on this joint committee?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Madam Premier.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this moment, I am not willing to make that commitment because I need some time to think about it. It is too rushed to make that commitment. We have a whole bunch of Indigenous governments that are at the table. Am I going to pick and choose or have one of each? Then when does it become a land claim negotiation versus a joint oversight committee? I am not ready at this minute to make that commitment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you for that response from the Premier. Thank you for that. I am looking here at what we will do to review, update, and publish territorial principles and interests to reflect GNWT's new priorities and mandate and there's a "how we will demonstrate progress for terms of reference being developed." Again, I'm going to go back to saying how it's really important. So how is the Premier going to proceed with developing these terms of reference, and is there going to be any consultation with any Indigenous groups for the development of terms of reference?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Madam Premier.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just had to check and make sure there were no political bombs coming off with that. Absolutely, this joint committee, I mean, in theory it's supposed to be between Regular Member and Cabinet, but we don't foresee -- you never know what will come out of the woodwork. At this point, we don't see a problem with sharing it with our Indigenous governments, to get their opinion on the terms of reference, as well, recognizing that it would take communication with that, because they need to be informed of what is going on, so we have to make sure that we have communication to make sure that they're clear. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

February 12th, 2020

Page 124

Steve Norn

Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all I have for now.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Member for Deh Cho.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I'm quite encouraged by the Premier's optimism for working with the Indigenous governments on the same level and that she has been in communication with them on, I suppose, an ongoing basis. To make this thing work, I guess, I myself have been after forming a special committee or some sort of a committee, and I'm glad to see that it has made it here. I'm just kind of wondering if we can, because it says "in the summer 2020, form special committee." That could be several months away, and there's just an eagerness, I guess, on my part, and maybe on the Indigenous side, too, to get the ball rolling. I would like to see that we escalate forming this committee and also the terms of reference for the committee, if that could be possible, because all these things can be done. I don't see why we need to wait any longer.

Also, because the terms of reference are pretty important, I guess, you're saying now we have to go to the Aboriginal governments to review the terms of reference for this committee, but they're not going to be part of that committee. This committee is going to be between Cabinet and the Regular Members, so that, this committee, we can hash it out on the floor, where we meet, on how we should be progressing. That's how I'm seeing this committee here. We can share terms of reference, all right; just maybe, if there's a final one, to show that this is what we're going to be doing, and it's agreed to by the Regular Members, also.

We also need to know, like, I understand from the last Assembly that there may have been a committee of some sort looking on the negotiation side, but it didn't do anything, and I'm just hoping that this committee will have meaning to it. That's all I'll go for, now. I'll wait for the Premier. Mahsi.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Do you have a response, Madam Premier?

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just heard that part of the reason he thought the joint committee didn't work well was because it didn't meet frequently enough. That might be an issue. It is hard to get everyone together.

Madam Chair, respectfully, I won't bump up the summer 2020 because, if you look at the wording, it says, "the internal working group will be established and the terms of reference developed by summer 2020." We're coming up on spring; it's not going to be very much time. This is going to take a process, and so I will not at this point be willing to move that up any further. Thank you, Madam Chair. If it happens earlier, though, great. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Premier. Next on my list is the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Pardon, did you have anything further, Member for Deh Cho?

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm really optimistic, you know, alongside of you, also, and I would really like to see this escalated and moved forward as soon as possible. Mahsi.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Madam Premier.