Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Monday, July 9, 2007

IQALUIT - Clad in sealskin vests on the last day of the 2007 Western Premiers Conference, the seven Western and Northern premiers expressed support for devolution talks between the federal government and both Nunavut and the NWT.

A strong north is a strong Canada, was the prevailing message of the final press conference of the event.

The three-day meeting included talks on Northern devolution, sovereignty, building sustainable communities, healthy living, and adaptation to climate change.

Premier Paul Okalik added his voice to the calls for devolution talks and spoke of seeking partnerships with the federal government and with his fellow premiers to tackle the issues that face Nunavut.

"We have many challenges, too many to work in isolation," Okalik said.

The NWT has campaigned for devolution for the past 20 years.

"The biggest issue for us, as a territorial government and for the Aboriginal governments, is the issue around Northern control, Northern management of our resources and of our future," said NWT Premier Joe Handley. "We have the right as Northerners to govern ourselves to determine our own future."

Despite promises for the North in the last federal budget, Handley said the NWT is still waiting for the Harper government to follow through.

"We’ve heard a lot of good commitments from the prime minister on sovereignty, on devolution, on fiscal imbalance, but we’re waiting for delivery," Handley said.

"The North’s time has come," Handley said.

Climate change and its effects on Canada’s Northern territories was another topic of discussion during the conference.

"The North contributes very little to the overall contributing factors of this phenomenon, but it’s the North that has raised the issue of impact, because we are... experiencing severe impact," Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie said. Adaptation must now be part of the national climate change strategy, he stressed.

Okalik said that it was no secret Nunavut has challenges in finding alternate forms of energy, but an impact the territory can have is by controlling consumption and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Handley stated that the survival of the North’s caribou and polar bear herds were dependent on action being taken on this issue.