Fort Liard treaty negotiations pause for elections
Final agreement with NWT close to completion
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
Treaty negotiations between Acho Dene Koe (ADK), territorial and provincial governments and the federal government are on a break until after federal and territorial elections wrap up.
Premier Bob McLeod pauses for a photo after a public meeting in Fort Liard on Aug. 27. Metis President Ernie McLeod, left, joins McLeod, Tlicho First Nation representative Bertha Rabesca Zoe and Acho Dene Koe Chief Harry Deneron outside Fort Liard's community hall following the meeting. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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Premier Bob McLeod spent Aug. 27 in the community along with ADK Treaty and Lands Consultant Rob Diaz to discuss the treaty with Chief Harry Deneron and his council.
The break comes after a year and a half of negotiations that followed the Feb. 13, 2014 signing of a 32-chapter agreement-in-principle by McLeod and Deneron.
Issues left to tackle include treaty implementation and lands selection, both made more complicated by the fact that ADK tradition lands include nearly 19,000 square kilometres in the NWT, nearly 11,000 square kilometres in the Yukon and more than 14,000 square kilometres in B.C.
"When you start talking about implementation, overall we've agreed in principle with the framework but we're not finished," Deneron said.
"We're dealing with four jurisdictions in Canadian law ... but we'll get there."
The implementation plan will be negotiated to ensure consensus on how the final treaty agreement is carried out. It will be a 10-year plan identifying obligations, timeframes and responsibilities.
Deneron said it is unfortunate that negotiations have been interrupted by elections.
"We're doing extremely well, but we're too small to be idling," he said.
In order to finalize treaty negotiations, the ADK, GNWT and Canadian government need to develop a master closing plan, which will fulfill commitments in the agreement-in-principle. The band has characterized this as a "to-do list" similar to the implementation plan that will involve each party taking responsibility for meeting target timeframes and fulfilling select obligations.
McLeod said negotiations are progressing well, even though they have not advanced as quickly as desired.
"The Acho Dene Koe want to move very fast and we'd like to move very fast too, but there are always things that take time," he said.
"There are some big steps ahead that we have to get through, such as land quantum and governance."
ADK is expected to receive 6,474 square kilometres of treaty settlement lands under a framework agreement signed in 2008 with the territorial and federal governments, with surface and subsurface rights, but the location of those lands has yet to be decided.
Once negotiated, the final agreement will include topics such as wildlife and fish, public community government and financial payments.
The band expects to begin negotiations with Yukon and B.C. before the end of 2015.
