Jason Unrau
Northern News Services
Friday, February 19, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - As the 15th Legislative Assembly nears conclusion, the resource revenue sharing agreement with Ottawa that cabinet has touted as the mission of this government remains as elusive as the midnight sun in January.

On Valentine’s Day, Great Slave MLA Bill Braden marked the romantic observance with a witty message of not-quite-unrequited love to Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his member’s statement.

Many will remember Harper’s Aug. 2006 whistle stop North of 60 tour that included Yellowknife.

At that time the prime minister stood in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly and told guests it was time the NWT got out from under Ottawa’s “paternalistic thumb.”

“Ohhh, Stephen. How we fell for you, lusting and pining and panting for the day when it all might come true. Was it only last summer when you stood before us here in our own humble parlour and professed yet again your solemn pledge that if we behaved ourselves and if we kept faith, we could be just like our big sister Alberta? Braden read.

“Your seductive temptations that once fueled the wild beating of our heart are here alas sounding empty and hollow, and as cold as the Arctic tempest that blasts across our fevered brow.”

Questioned on the issue several days earlier, Premier Joe Handley said he hoped to have an agreement-in-principle signed between aboriginal leaders and the territorial government by the end of March.