Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River Reserve (Apr 12/04) - Northern leaders went into a meeting last week with the declared goal of developing trust and a better working relationship.

They left -- after talking for two and a half days -- with a proposal to put a newfound desire to co-operate into a tangible form.

Chief Charlie Furlong: Optimistic, but cautious.

It's called the NWT Intergovernmental Assembly, or IGA for short.

The idea was suggested by the Aboriginal Summit at the end of the Circle of Northern Leaders on the Hay River Reserve.

"It's not another level of government," said James Wah-Shee, president of the Aboriginal Summit. He said it would provide a permanent forum for aboriginal governments and the GNWT to work together.

The process will take courage and political will, Wah-Shee predicted, "but it's a process that's absolutely essential to the NWT."

Premier Joe Handley thinks it is a positive suggestion.

"It's a good paper for consideration," he said. Handley said he would discuss it further with the Legislative Assembly.

The premier would like the IGA proposal to include municipalities in some way.

Chief Charlie Furlong of the Gwich'in Tribal Council was optimistic, but cautious. "There's so much that we can put into this forum, but we don't want to put so much in that it's unworkable," he said.

Instead, Furlong believes, if it can successfully deal with one or two issues a year, it would be a great accomplishment.

The Circle of Northern Leaders -- the first of its kind by the GNWT -- brought together territorial, municipal and aboriginal leaders from around the NWT.

The proposed new forum was the only concrete recommendation to come out of the April 6-8 meeting.

However, that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the more than 50 participants.

As the discussions concluded April 8, the leaders took turns heaping praise on the meeting, calling it historic and a new beginning in co-operation between governments.

Handley described the meeting -- which cost the GNWT up to $200,000 -- as excellent.

"I think there was a lot of trust," he said.

Handley said there was a feeling of a need for one voice for the North, "that we need to speak collectively."

Given the number of participants, there was no expectation going into the meeting that there would be a final agreement on anything, he said. "It was not possible."

Chief Furlong said it was interesting to see common ground around the table and the desire to work together.

However, he said he has attended many meetings which have concluded with lots of hugging and kissing.

"But when you go out that door, things don't work the way we want them to," he said.

Chief Roy Fabian of the K'atlodeeche First Nation sounded positive. "For me, I like what I hear here."

North Douglas, president of the North Slave Metis Alliance, also joined in the apparently unanimous upbeat assessment of the gathering.

"Our land is rich," Douglas said. "It's one big piece of pie. Let's share it."

Chief Keyna Norwegian of Fort Simpson's Liidlii Kue First Nation said aboriginal governments want more control over economic development. "It's like the First Nations people have no control once the permits are given out."

Some of the issues identified as needing a more co-operative approach were promoting health, preserving aboriginal language and culture, balancing protection of the land and resource development, developing communities, and settling land claims.