Thank you. Committee, please turn to Indigenous and intergovernmental affairs, beginning on page 125, with information items on 128 to 131. Questions? Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is one of my main concerns because I don't see any progress, and I haven't been briefed yet with regards to settlement of claims and implementation of claims. Some of the concerns that I listened to on the weekend from a couple of Aboriginal groups is that, most of the time, people are going without mandates. Negotiators are going without mandates to the meetings, and I just wonder if that is going to change. That's my first question, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is a misconception that the negotiators on behalf of the GNWT don't have mandates, but actually, they do have mandates. The difficulty is: sometimes, if there is an ask that is more than they are mandated to do, they can't sign those off. They are negotiators; they are not Ministers. Anything that has a financial number to it cannot be signed by any individual Member, even a Minister, unless it's an approved budget. If it's a financial ask or something like that, it does have to come through the Executive Council. That is the issue. It's not that they don't have mandates. It's when the mandates' limits are exceeded that they have to come back and get more approval. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have been part of the implementation of the Salt River claim, and federal negotiators have access to deputy minister in Ottawa to make a decision. We don't have that here. They always have to go back. If you only have two meetings or three meetings a year, you'll never get a claim settled. I am wondering if there is a way that we could expedite some of these claims. When you settle a claim, it's beneficial to the area that the claim is settled. There is always financial input into the community. There are jobs. I am concerned especially with my area, the implementation of the Salt River claim to its fullness, and I am also concerned about the NWT-Metis Nation claim. There is not a lot of movement, and I am concerned about that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Actually, I would beg to differ. Actually, there has been quite a bit of movement within this government on the status of the claims at this point, more so than in the previous government, when I was part of Cabinet. With the NWT Metis Nation process, we have come to a place where we have a framework agreement for the self-government. I think that is just less than a month that we have settled that. With the Manitoba and Athabasca Denesuline transboundary negotiations, we have an agreement in principle which is going through consultation with the Indigenous governments applicable, Indigenous governments within here. With the Akaitcho Dene First Nations, we have an agreement in principle that I believe we are just at the point of signing, which will come. Thank you, Madam Chair. We have made progress.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.

Madam Chair, I met with a group on the weekend, and there was a group that is very concerned about the transboundary agreements that are coming forth with the Denesuline and the Manitoba group because they said that, once that is signed, because the previous government was in court with litigation with that, and now it seems to be that we are going along with the federal government and letting them do that. Any time there is any development within those areas, the people in the territories are subject to section 35, and we have to agree to consult them when it's our land. Those are big issues, and people are really, really concerned about that.

They are also concerned that they are also going to get seats on the Mackenzie Valley water board. There will be three of them. There are three, I think, decided, wanted to go on. Part of this whole Denesuline and the Manitoba group or whatever, agreeing to transboundary agreements within the Northwest Territories is unacceptable. That is what I was told. It's unacceptable, and it's going to be a big topic because we are not going to be going into Saskatchewan or Manitoba and start claiming lands there. No, but let's be reasonable about this, okay? I am from here, born and raised, Indigenous to this area. Salt River has lands right next to where the Denesuline want to go. Okay? Every time, if Salt River wants to do something, we will always have to go to consult once they are there. Those kinds of agreements are not okay. As MLA for Thebacha and representing these two groups, I will not be in favour of something like that because they have already told me that they are not.

I know you are going to go and consult, but going to consult and putting people at a meeting, Mr. Goldney knows this, is not consulting. People have extreme concerns about this whole thing with the transboundary and the federal government. We should not be agreeing to that. We are not going to be starting going to claim land next to Edmonton, even though the Northwest Territories paid for all of Edmonton to grow up because we all have to go there if we want to go anywhere else.

I am very strong about that because I have talked to both sides. I have also talked to people from both claims, and they have very much a concern about that. I know I am going to be on SCRIA, and I am going to have a look, and I am going to be briefed and everything. I have to make sure that people know what's happening here because not everybody has been a chief in a negotiation process. It's not a good process sometimes. I mean, Mr. Goldney knows that. We have had our differences. We have also had our whatever, and we are still friends today. It's just that transboundary thing is a major, it's going to be a major, hurdle. The previous government, under Premier McLeod, okay, you were part of that government, and we were in litigation with that. Now, all of a sudden, I see that they are going to get lands there, and that is a major concern. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha.

[Microphone turned off] ...with that. I will start by saying I had made the assumption when I first started that, you were right, any transboundary would be objected to by all Indigenous governments within the NWT, but that is not so in the Gwich'in on the Beaufort-Delta, is my understanding, because the Gwich'in do travel more. In talking to Ken Smith, it's a little bit different up there.

The transboundary in the southern area is going to be contentious. My understanding was that, before, the federal government was doing this; they were doing that with us at the table or not. Yes, Bob McLeod's government was fighting to say, "Let us be at the table. At least let us be at the table," because they were going to sign it off, be a done deal, and not even ask for consultation in the North. They have that power. My understanding is that we actually finally got to the table, and we are asking for consultation.

I did meet with the group when they signed the agreement in principle, and they asked me point blank, "How do you think the Indigenous governments will take this in the consultation?" and point blank, the head of chair, I said to them, each of them, "They will take it -- my gut, I don't know, but my gut is telling me they will take it as well as you would take it if Indigenous governments from the NWT were coming into your territory." That is my last conversation that I had with them. I do not expect the consultation on this side to go well, but I do know that, if we are not at the table, we are in danger. The federal government has been pretty clear that they have the power. Madam Chair, the deputy minister may want to expand. If he wants to, I am not sure.

Thank you, Madam Premier. I am just going to remind the Members and remind the witnesses and everybody to talk through the chair and refrain from speaking directly to the witnesses. Thank you. Did you have anything further to add, Mr. Goldney?

Thank you, Mr. Goldney. I know this is very near and dear to our Member for Thebacha with her past of negotiations. I am going to move on to the Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just looking at the line item for Aboriginal intergovernmental meetings fund, I see that last year we were at $600,000 and this year we are at $300,000. I am just wondering if the $300,000 is the number for what this government intends to accomplish with their priorities. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely. At this point, the meeting fund, it's confusing, well, it's not really confusing. Basically, we take turns with the bilaterals, which are the meetings between executive and the Indigenous governments. One meeting, it's in their territory, and the next is in Yellowknife. It just happens that there will be more in Yellowknife this time. However, the bigger thing is that we are in COVID-19. We did not use all the money, and unless something changes throughout Canada, I don't know. We won't be doing a lot of travelling until, at minimum, the end of March, until 75 percent are vaccinated. Some Indigenous governments want in-person; they want to come to Yellowknife. Other ones do not even want to see us; they just want people to stay away from our communities. We are predicting that we won't need any more than this in the coming year unless the borders open. We are looking at September for the South. If there is need more, then we will find it internally, but at this point, we are projecting that a lot of meetings for this area will be on video conferencing. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I see that there is a sunset of funding for the deputy secretary for the federal engagement strategy. I am wondering if the Premier can speak to that, please.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I will try to be politically correct. Within the last government, we did have this position brought up. It was felt that the relationship with the federal government was not really strong. It was felt that we didn't have enough representation in Ottawa negotiating with the federal government. However, what I would like to say is that, within this government, I say to my Ministers all of the time, "It's easy to say no to someone you don't like. It's really difficult to say no to someone you like." I carried that forward, and I say it constantly to my Ministers. We have worked at the relationship with the federal government, and I meet with them on a weekly basis most often because of COVID-19. At this point, I would say that our relationship with the federal government is probably one of the strongest that we have had in many, many, many years. At this point, we feel that we do not need that position because we are meeting weekly. The federal government is working with us, and our relationship is strong. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. During the 18^th Assembly, one of the concerns that I understood was that there was a question of whether or not federal Ministers in Ottawa understood the reality of life in the Northwest Territories. This was one of the tasks that the deputy secretary for federal engagement was tasked with accomplishing. I'm wondering if this is still a concern for this government. Thank you.