NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

The Government of the Northwest Territories is set to sign an agreement-in-principle on devolution this week in what Premier Floyd Roland says is the first step to the territory's future.

A signing ceremony is planned at the legislative assembly's Great Hall in Yellowknife Jan. 26. News/North sat down with the premier to talk about the impacts signing it will have on NWT residents.

News/North: Why is now the time to sign the agreement-in-principle?

Floyd Roland: "There's no talks until we sign an agreement-in-principle. After signing, we'll have to develop our mandates and prepare for negotiations - and that's going to take some time from all parties, ourselves as the Government of the Northwest Territories, aboriginal governments and the federal government. Yes, It's not the best deal, but this has been in the works for - if you look at the days of the Northern Accord - almost 30 years. The devolution resource-revenue sharing agreement-in-principle, itself, has been worked on in earnest by all levels of government since 2001. In 2007, some of the parties signed with the Government of the Northwest Territories of the day and sent it in to the federal government for a response. And we didn't get one. If in fact the federal government at that point had accepted ... we'd be negotiating by now."

N/N: Why do you say 'it's not the best deal?'

Roland: "We've agreed, by the initialling, that the basis of what's there is something we can work with. Of course we would like better in some cases. That's why we say we want to draw down the authority. More importantly, it's drawing down the authority so we can make the decisions. I'm not going to start to speak to mandate issues at this point. We'll have to sit down and look at how we can work with partners that join us as we go through this process."

N/N: How is the GNWT affected if aboriginal governments don't all sign the agreement?

Roland: "Our work will continue. The AIP allows for the groups to join anywhere in the process. So the ones that join with us right off the bat will be able to establish a funding flow from Ottawa because the AIP identifies $3.9 million for aboriginal governments that sign on. They'll have to work out an arrangement for how that will be drawn down from the federal government. We (the GNWT) would be able to tap into that $4 million fund during the negotiations process....even in an AIP process, nobody gets everything they want. But if you look at what was offered to where we are, I think we've done a pretty good job overall."

N/N: How will aboriginal governments who don't sign on be affected?

Roland: "They'll have less of a voice ... The money that's identified as available to aboriginal groups, well if they don't sign on right away, they don't have the opportunity to tap into those resources to go to the table."

N/N: Why should all groups sign?

Roland: "It makes absolute sense to be in to start with, because you influence the process right from the start. If you want to step back, that is your choice and you have less of an ability to influence. Many of the groups have been a part of the process from the start."

N/N: What is the government's main priority to ensure all parties work together in negotiations?

Roland: "We've got a lot of work to do in figuring out who's going to be working with us right from the start. One of the things we have to do internally is get a team together to start pulling in the resources, reference materials, to begin to prepare us to set our mandates. There will be some mandates where it would be best that we worked with the aboriginal groups. There's going to be some mandates where it's purely a Government of the Northwest Territories position or purely an aboriginal government position on talks about our bilateral agreement."

N/N: Will there be separate GNWT and aboriginal government negotiation teams?

Roland: "Yes, I believe so. Those structures have yet to be designed. We're very early in the days here. It would be foolish of me to go forward and ask for money to hire someone to start pulling resources together if this doesn't get signed. If we weren't going to sign it, we're done. Take what little money we have and spend it on areas where we can affect the lives of people in a positive way in the North - not just on more talks."

N/N: What's the timeline for reaching a final agreement?

Roland: "The AIP spells out a 12-month time-frame. It is a principle, but in speaking to (Indian and Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan) and I feel the same way and I've shared this with regional leadership, it's going to be longer than that. At minimum, two years. Maybe going into three years."

N/N: Do you see this agreement as one of your legacies as premier?

Roland: "I'm not one who operates on legacies. As much talk as there is about the agreement-in-principle, ... more importantly is the final agreement, and that decision will be made by other governments in the 17th assembly The government and aboriginal governments of that day will have to decide if that package...is good enough to go forward.

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