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.

Topics

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

Page 125

The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

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

Page 125

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

I didn't mean that there was a priority two. It's just in the order that I am talking. I just feel like in order for us to move forward and settle these land claims, and settle the self-government, we need to have legislation established because I know that a lot of the Indigenous groups are looking at the future. In their self-governments, they want to ensure that all their rights are protected, and, if one other group gets something. It's a big -- so on one hand, we need to have this. I feel like we need to have some legislation on this, and I'm hoping that that's what the Premier will be hearing, especially once we get this group established. Thank you.

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

Page 125

The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, it's all about Indigenous people speaking for themselves. I have committed to actually sit with them, form a working group. They will commit. I, again, will reiterate. I do not want to be the territory that says we got legislation and then the next thing we know is we hear about something major that's happening and Indigenous governments are saying, "But you didn't even consult us."

Put in a legislation act and actually make this a live document are two different things. I'm sad to say, but that is the reality of life. I want more than just an act. I want action on this. 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 126

The Chair

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Madam Premier. Anything further? Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Next on my list is the Member for Thebacha.

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

Page 126

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Putting the onus on Indigenous governments, on the leadership of Indigenous governments to move this forward is not acceptable. Leadership by the Government of the Northwest Territories to move this forward is acceptable. If you are going to wait for the Indigenous governments and you're going to divide and conquer, it's never going to happen. We have to make sure that we show leadership to ensure that this passes. Why can't we at least do something in the meantime, and you do AIP's for agreements in principle. Why don't we have an agreement-in-principle to implement the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous people, and worry about all the other things after? At least, we have stated and said that this is what we're going to do. I think there are other ways of moving forward with this and not waiting for years and years. We have AIPs all the time. Why can't we have an AIP that we are going to move forward and do this? It shows that we have leadership as a government. We are all on board about that, and it moves the Indigenous governments a step forward in the right direction. That's all we're asking.

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. We already have a mandate commitment that we will implement the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous governments. I'm not sure if an AIP will strengthen that or not. What I do want to bring it back to is, the summer of 2020, the working group of Indigenous governments will sit around the table and talk about: what does this look like; what do we need to do?

It's not about divide and conquer. We can't even get 19 people in this room to agree on --- well, maybe, if we tried. We haven't fought on adjourning yet, but this is huge. This is so huge. To have all 19 people, all Indigenous governments on the front page probably won't happen. This is about getting consensus to try to figure out from them, getting the most and them moving forward. If it's about, like I said, it's going to happen in the summer of 2020. If they say, "We want it now," I will be moving it as fast as I can. 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 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.

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

Page 126

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Just a clarification on my comments. I'm saying why couldn't we agree with an AIP, with all the governments, all the Indigenous governments, to ensure that -- we do it all the time with Indigenous governments as a first step in negotiation, that we're going to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It's an agreement-in-principle really. All the other things will be worked out later.

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the Member can actually meet with me later and maybe talk, I'm open to talking. I mean we have it in our mandate. It is a priority. We are going to have a working group. Terms of reference will be done. I'm not sure why it's stuck in AIP, which is an agreement-in-principle, because is it the terms of reference we want or an agreement-in-principle? We haven't even settled all the agreements in principle with Indigenous governments. That might end up being a block. 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 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.

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

Page 126

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I'm sorry, Madam Premier, but I'm just so passionate about this whole issue. It's just the concept. I said the AIP. We do AIPs all the time. It doesn't have to be AIP. It could be an MOU saying that we are going to be doing some of these things, and we are going to implement this. We have 19 or 20 or 33, I think it's 33, First Nations or Indigenous groups in the territories. I don't know exactly how many there are, but there are more than that. We get them to sign that we're going to end up doing this, at least have something so that people have an understanding that we're going to do this. If you're going to put the onus on the First Nations and wait for them to get this together, that's not going to happen. I want us to show the leadership to actually do this.

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. What I can commit to: as soon as we get the working group in the summer of 2020, the first conversation we'll put on the table is, do you want an AIP or an MOU or a terms of reference to be able to do this? That, I can commit to and work from that. I'm not seeing that we're downloading it and we're going to say, "This is all about you." What I'm saying is that we need to make sure that they are the voices that we're listening to, not just a whole bunch of bureaucrats. Because we all agree, I think, that just having a whole bunch of bureaucrats do it might not be the best practice. This is about Indigenous people. It's not about passing the buck or waiting forever. It's about doing it right. 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 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.

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

Page 126

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I understand where you're coming from, and I know your heart is there, too. Indigenous people have always taken a back seat for a long time, especially on some of these issues. It goes hand-in-hand. My former colleague says that with the settlement of claims and the implementation of claims and all these, it's a very big issue because we can't do development in a lot of these areas because of the claim issue. It's just going to benefit everybody much more if we do everything in a more, I guess, in a fashion that won't take years to do. Eighteen years after a settlement of a claim and we are still waiting for the implementation is a bit long. I hope we are not going to wait that long. I will never see this happen. Thank you so much. I don't have any other questions.

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the passion. I don't take it as anger or anything. I know that we all have passion. I appreciate the Member's words. This is close to my heart, too. We will move it as fast as we can, in a respectful manner, not trying to cram it down people's throats, but actually working in the consensus model. 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 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Madam Premier. Committee, we will take a short recess and resume to the tabled document.

---SHORT RECESS

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

We were at the tabled document on section "implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," and I will give the floor to 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 126

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's clear that the GNWT Department of Justice got their hands all over this one. I want to note that we are implementing it within the constitutional framework. We are passing legislation and policies that best reflect the principles set out in UNDRIP.

Some history here: the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was vetoed by Canada at the United Nations, because it provides free, prior, and informed consent to Indigenous peoples for any resource projects taking care on their land. Since that time, in Canada, we have kind of evolved, and there has been this conversation, "Well, consent is not a veto," which I think is really a watering down of what UNDRIP was trying to accomplish.

Can the Premier please clarify: when we implement UNDRIP, does it provide Indigenous peoples the right to veto resource projects on their lands? Thank you.

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

Page 126

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Madam Premier.

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

Page 126

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I had earlier said that I am glad to have a lawyer in the House. I am glad to have a few lawyers in the House. To answer the lawyer's question, I will allow Martin to answer that. Thank you.