Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 17/00) - The Beaufort Delta Leaders Conference is closer to being a legal entity following its three-day meeting in Inuvik last week.

Community and aboriginal delegates from around the region had proposed a number of resolutions -- including a decision to become incorporated as a body -- by the time the session wrapped up Thursday at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.

"We're not able to do any legal administrative duties like operate bank accounts unless we're legally incorporated," said Bob Simpson, chief negotiator of the Beaufort Delta Self-Government Office, who co-chaired the meeting along with Nellie Cournoyea of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

"All it does is recognize the structure we've been operating under for the last five years, and there are no substantive changes."

Simpson said the second major resolution the conference reached was to review its internal work plan in dealing with the political Northern Accord reached between the aboriginal, territorial and federal governments last fall.

"We have our own work and we don't even need to deal with the GNWT and the federal government," he said. "We've included this all in one plan so that they know what the plan is."

Simpson said conference plans include further study of the discussed amalgamation between overlapping departments in the Beaufort Delta Education Council and the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board. He said any proposed amalgamation would proceed with caution and more board meetings would be held before the conference reconvenes next October.

Deputy mayor Peter Clarkson and councillors Vivian Hunter and Derek Lindsay, who represented the town of Inuvik, said the main issue was the shape the conference and the self-government administration will take in future years.

"We feel it's moving ahead quite well from the town's perspective, and it's nice to see that we're involved," said Lindsay. "We did a two-day workshop to see what all the communities felt was necessary in the make-up of this regional council and to see what services it would take over, and how."

Lindsay said many details remain to be settled, however, including the composition of a future town council and Inuvik's control over its tax-base revenue.

"It's a bit early in the day for Inuvik to say if it's satisfied with it all," he said. "If we lose all our authority, there may be some squawking down the road."