Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 02/00) - The starting line for final agreement negotiations between the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN), GNWT and the federal government is closer.

Three-days of talks to establish groundwork for a framework agreement wrapped up at the Goga Cho building in Yellowknife on May 25, leaving all sides optimistic.

The main sticking point was the role of the GNWT in self-government negotiations.

The federal government pushed for trilateral talks on all issues. The DCFN preferred bilateral talks between themselves and the federal government.

In the end, the federal government proposed a compromise.

"We want to set up a workshop where each side presents their reasons for involvement in certain issues, and then figure out the role of the GNWT," said Robin Aitken, chief federal negotiator.

The DCFN said they need to review the proposal.

"We want to go back and speak with the elders and see the direction we'll take," said DCFN chief negotiator Chris Reid. "I don't think we'll agree for three equal participants in all aspects of negotiations."

Some progress occurred on forestry management issues.

"The GNWT moved on a couple of things," said Reid. "We were happy with that."

Aitken said, "We still have lots of work to do, it was nice to leave positive ... there was a time we had no common ground, we're building trust."

"We made good progress," said Charles Overvold, GNWT deputy minister for Aboriginal Affairs."I still have to go and brief the minister."

As of Friday, the GNWT had not released any further statement.

"From our perspective it was productive," said Reid.

The tone of the meeting changed from the first day to the next two.

On the first day of meetings, May 23, each side couldn't agree on allowing the media into the meetings.

The DCFN pushed for openness, but the GNWT and the federal government moved to keep the first day of meeting closed.

After the first day, Reid felt disappointed about the state of negotiations.

"The (DCFN) might just say no to negotiations right now," said Reid.

The next round of negotiations begins at the Henne National Park Reserve on June 26-28.