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HAY RIVER
The annual general assembly of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation (NWTMN) has unanimously passed a motion approving an agreement-in-principle on land and resources with Ottawa and the GNWT.

The historic resolution, passed in Hay River in late November, authorizes NWTMN chief negotiator Jake Heron to initial the document.

The decision comes 16 years after the NWTMN - then known as the South Slave Metis Tribal Council - signed a framework agreement with Canada and the GNWT.

The formal signing of the framework agreement took place in Fort Smith on Aug. 29, 1996, committing the NWTMN, Canada and the GNWT to negotiate a land and resources agreement-in-principle and, subsequently, a final agreement. The federal cabinet approved the mandate for negotiations in April 1997, and formal negotiations commenced almost immediately.

A news release from the NWTMN refers to a "long, rocky road" until the three parties finally negotiated an AiP earlier this year.

Community information sessions to review the document with NWTMN members were held in Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife over the summer.

Heron recommended that the NWTMN approve the agreement-in-principle.

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