SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The federal government has put a hold on its appeal of a court order halting the merging of land and water boards in the territory.
Lawyer Scott Duke, representing the attorney general of Canada, told Justice Louise Charbonneau of the NWT Court of Appeal Dec. 11 that his instructions on the case had changed.
He said the government of Canada and the Tlicho Government would instead begin discussions to come to some kind of agreement.
The Tlicho had filed a court challenge of the former Conservative government's move to merge the Mackenzie Valley, Wek'eezhii, Sahtu and Gwich'in land and water boards into one so-called "superboard."
The Conservatives passed amendments to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act in 2014 and these changes which would have taken effect April 1.
However, the Tlicho sought and were granted an injunction of the amalgamation in NWT Supreme Court in February.
The Conservative government appealed the injunction in the NWT Court of Appeal.
Duke indicated the appeal likely would have been heard in January, one of the four times the appeal court sits next year.
NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod received the backing of the Tlicho government during the federal election campaign after promising to preserve the Wek'eezhii board.
Attempts to reach McLeod Dec. 11 were not successful by press time.
Nuri Frame, a lawyer representing the Tlicho Government in the case, said Dec. 11 the Liberal government had agreed to put the case in abeyance.
"It puts the litigation of the appeal of our injunction on hold for the time being," Frame said.
The Tlicho now appoint two members of the four person Wek'eezhii board.
Under the 11-person superboard, they would have only one seat.
