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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Bill Erasmus, national chief of the Dene Nation, believes there is "absolutely" a chance for an improved relationship between aboriginal leaders and the GNWT in light of the new territorial cabinet, particularly Premier Bob McLeod.

Bill Erasmus says some chiefs believe relationship with government has been at all-time low.

"We don't think we can go much further away from each other," said Erasmus.

In fact, he said some Dene chiefs believe the relationship with the territorial government has been at an all-time low.

"We now have to be consistent to solidify our relationship and deal with our issues in a constructive way so that we can move forward," Erasmus said.

The Dene national chief congratulated McLeod on being selected premier by other MLAs on Oct. 26.

"We know that he has a lot of experience in the governmental system," Erasmus said, adding McLeod has worked for many years as a territorial civil servant and spent the last four years in cabinet, and has worked with Dene people.

"So I think our leadership is comfortable with him being in office as the premier and we look forward to working closely with him," Erasmus added.

One of the main sources of friction between the Dene Nation and the territorial government has been the agreement-in-principle on devolution signed by the GNWT and Ottawa.

Erasmus said the agreement-in-principle was among the issues discussed at a one-day meeting in Dettah on Oct. 21 between aboriginal leaders and MLAs.

"There was, I think, some opening there that people realized that the agreement can't go forward as is and that we have to be creative in our approach on how we're going to have to tackle things," he said.

Erasmus said he got a sense from MLAs that the agreement-in-principle can be changed.

"I think they want a different approach, or they want an approach that's going to work," he said.

Erasmus said the idea of a protocol between the GNWT and aboriginal leaders was discussed at the Dettah meeting and also at a meeting of Dene chiefs last week in Fort Smith.

"Right now, it's not clear on how our relationship needs to flourish," he said. "So we want to talk about installing a protocol between the territorial government and ourselves so that, when we deal with issues, we're very clear on how we're going to approach them and what the outcomes might be."

Erasmus said, if there had been such a protocol in place, it may have prevented the federal and territorial governments from signing the devolution agreement-in-principle without the concurrence of the Dene Nation.

The gathering in Dettah was held after Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Sam Gargan wrote a letter to MLAs requesting there be a meeting before the premier and cabinet were chosen.

The MLAs, who were in Dettah for briefings, invited aboriginal leaders, including the Dene chiefs and Inuvialuit and Metis leaders, to meet them in the community.

Erasmus said the meeting was the first of its kind.

"So it was precedent-setting and we said that we were pleased that this happened and we may want to extend this kind of a meeting to other situations," he said, noting that could possibly be prior to sessions of the legislative assembly or at least once a year.

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