Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 14/98) - Fort Simpson's Jim Antoine was elected NWT premier Thursday. A MLA since 1991 and a three-term chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation before that, he defeated Sahtu MLA Stephen Kakfwi to assume the North's top job.

MLAs also elected Inuvik's Floyd Roland to cabinet and Antoine has given him the transportation and public works and services portfolio.

Less than 24-hours after his election, a tired but pleased Antoine sat down with News North reporter Arthur Milnes in his office Friday to discuss the direction he'd like the GNWT to take.

News/North: What's the government's top priority with you in the premier's chair?

JA: We'll have to get together as a cabinet very shortly. I've already appointed Floyd Roland as Minister of the Department of Transportation and Public Services.

The main exercise today is to try to assess where we are as a cabinet and to assess what has to get done. We have some breathing space now (with the assembly rising), since it is right before Christmas, to assess where this government is going. As a result of the last few days and especially as a result of the conflict-of-interest inquiry and the report, the debate we had and the motion as a result of it -- in accepting the report we laid out some conditions on what has to happen in trying to address the many concerns that arise out of the report.

I am not ignoring the report. What I'm saying is we have to deal with reality -- I'm not saying there isn't reality in the report -- the main thing is there are a lot of things going on in the communities and in the regions. Diamonds, oil and gas in the Deh Cho, Sahtu and up in the Beaufort Delta, these are key issues.

Division is another key issue. At the same time, what the report does is take a critical look at how government conducts itself. People want transparency and open government. They want us to follow all the rules that are there. The rules are there, the policies are there, the guidelines are there. What we have to do here is, through the deputy ministers' committee the acting premier, Goo Arlooktoo, had initiated was to take an internal look at it (government policies in light of the report).

But that wasn't good enough for the members of the legislative assembly. There was a call for a review committee to be chaired by someone acceptable to all parties and from outside and independent of government. That will have to be put into place.

News/North: How will the Jim Antoine government be different?

JA: I don't see it as a Jim Antoine government. I see it as a government of all the cabinet members. I'd like to work closely with them and get all their views. We're at the tail end of our term. There are 14 weeks until division and then Nunavut will be on its own. Then we have until the election on Oct. 4 to work here in the western NWT and to carry on with the work that has to be done. I'd like to say at this point that I've worked with everybody in the legislative assembly and I have respect for everybody. I'd like to say my door is open to everybody. The work that Jane Groenewegen draws attention to the way the government works here.

In a way, it's a valuable type of direction that came out of the report. It directed us to look at how government runs. It may have looked bad in a couple of instances but overall, having been in government for the past three years, I think there is a lot of good this government has done and we should focus on that.

News/North: What is the main challenge or issue for you in ensuring a smooth division?

JA: Working with the Nunavut members of the legislative assembly and especially working with the office of the interim commissioner (of Nunavut) I think it is very important to make sure there is dialogue that goes on and perhaps could identify key areas where there could be snags.

News/North: On Aboriginal issues, land claims and other areas, will you have a different style?

JA: No. The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, I think I'm going to keep it in the Premier's Office. There is intergovernmental affairs as well and I'd like to keep working at that. I think we started a very important initiative of changing the policy, of taking a real look at western governance and how it is going to unfold.

No one knows how it is going to unfold but I want to make sure everyone keeps talking and I want to accommodate what the Aboriginal nations are trying to achieve through their negotiations and self-government arrangements.

News/North: It's been less than 24 hours, what do you think of the job so far?

JA: I had a radio interview this morning and it was a real eye-opener. There are some people out there with some very serious opinions and thoughts on this government and I have to listen to everybody and hopefully get the right answers. I didn't have the right answers this morning perhaps...with less than 24 hours as premier, to get tough questions like that. I'd like to do that sort of radio program again, later on, once I get more familiar with some of the bigger issues.