SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Bob Bromley told the legislative assembly yesterday a supposedly leaked agreement-in-principal on devolution unveiled by CBC North on Friday is not adequate.

"As proposed, devolution means taking the exact same resource management and regulatory regime and moving it across the street as is," said the Weledeh MLA on the document, which neither the territorial nor federal government has released officially to the public.

"Yet Northerners have been clear that the federal regime is inadequate and unrepresentative. It is not based on principles of sustainable development and lacks the full set of socio-economic and environmental tools for integrated resource management we demand."

Mackenzie-Delta MLA David Krutko told Yellowknifer on Monday that MLAs aren't allowed to comment on specifics of the agreement-in-principal's contents despite having copies of their own. The seven aboriginal governments in the territory have until Oct. 31 to review the document and choose whether to join the devolution negotiations.

If it is approved, the territory and the aboriginal governments will continue in negotiations with the federal government over how to begin the process of

transferring responsibilities.

"What is currently the responsibility of Indian and Northern Affairs would be transfered to the Northwest Territories," said Margot Geduld, a spokesperson for Indian and Northern Affairs.

"That would include administration control and management of land, water, mineral and oil and gas along with archaeological resources."

CBC North has posted a copy of the 'Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement in Principal' on its website, but Yellowknifer could not confirm if it was the actual document.

The document posted by CBC calls for the transfer to the territorial government of the right to pass its own laws over the management of land and natural resources, but does not allow it to infringe upon aboriginal land claims.

As well, the territory would receive a one-time federal grant of $23 million to cover transitional costs and the aboriginal governments would receive $4 million for the same. According to the document, the federal government would transfer some $63 million annually to the territorial government to cover the costs of administering oil, gas, land, water and archaeological resources, while reducing its operating grants to the territory by 50 cents for every dollar the territory earns in resource revenues.

Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya and Mackenzie Delta MLA David Krutko took premier Floyd Roland to task at the legislative assembly on Monday for the secretive nature of the negotiations up to this point. Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen and Nunakput MLA Jackie Jacobson, meanwhile, welcomed the forward movement. Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington was also glad to see some light finally shed on the negotiations.

"I think the debate has been characterized by being too much in private so far," said Bevington. "I think the federal government has proved it's not the best body to do this work - its competency is under some considerable question, its processes are cumbersome and we in the North could do a much better job."

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus said while devolution is a good thing he doesn't like the agreement, adding there remains a lot of work to do deciding what Northwest Territories governance will look like.

"We have this unique opportunity for all the people of the North to participate in a constitutional discussion to design institutions and the North the way we'd like to see it," he said. "On the surface, however, it doesn't look like a good agreement. Why if aboriginal peoples compose 51 per cent of population, do they not have 51 per cent of control?"

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