Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 16/99) - The future of the Dene within Denedeh will be built around more First Nations control over land, resources, programs and services.

The 29th Dene National Assembly, held in Jean Marie River last week, resulted in a dozen motions being passed. Many of those motions indicate relationships between the Dene Nation and the federal government will not be moving forward as usual.

A bold motion was passed directing the Dene Leadership to aggressively pursue the recovery of Federal Treasury Board finances that currently flow to the GNWT.

If adequate results on the issue are not achieved by March 31, 2000, the Dene Leadership will pursue legal action to recover these funds.

"We haven't discussed this with the federal government to any extent, but they shouldn't be surprised," said Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus. "We've been talking about it for years.

"The question now is how do we proceed -- what's the best way to engage ourselves in this action?"

He said a major proportion of the $700 million the GNWT receives annually from the federal government is spent delivering programs and services to the Dene people.

"There is some money that never comes to the North and there is some money we're not even aware of because we don't have a co-operative approach with the territorial government," said Erasmus.

He said the money doesn't necessarily have to be in the control of Dene First Nations communities by March 31, 2000. To avoid court action, though, the federal government and the Dene First Nations must have some sort of agreement in place stating that a transfer will occur.

"I think if the premier and the federal minister for DIAND are serious about our inherent right and that the chiefs and council do have authority, then they can agree in principle tomorrow to do this," Erasmus said.

"The government can either back off this and say no, we're not going to do this, or they can say we're going to let each table work at this and we can play tag for the next eight months, or we can sit down and say yes, we can do this."

Hay River Dene Reserve Chief Pat Martell wasn't as optimistic that the federal government would receive the request in good faith.

"They're going to start asking questions and they're going to start arguing with us," Martell said.

"They'll take this, look at it and tear it apart until it looks good to them -- that's how they work. We have to be prepared for that."

Yellownknives Dene Dettah Chief Richard Edjericon suggested the move to transfer federal funds would have to be constitutionally protected.

"If we're going to be taking our money from the GNWT, then we should be seriously considering creating our own constitution. We can call it the Denedeh Act," said Edjericon.

Forming a tri-lateral partnership between First Nations, territorial and federal governments to deal with resource revenue sharing was also something high on the agenda.

A motion was passed instructing the Chiefs Committee on Intergovernmental Relations to continue its work towards an agreement.

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development regional director Bob Overvold and NWT Premier Jim Antoine came to the assembly to discuss the intergovernmental process.

"If natural resources are going to be transferred to the North, it won't happen unless Aboriginal governments are involved. If anything is going to move, we all have to agree," Overvold said.

"These developments all point to the fact that we have a common mechanism. There is a need for a place where federal, territorial and Aboriginal governments can go to discuss common issues."

Overvold said the intergovernmental process depends on open communication.

"It's time to start rebuilding our trust. In doing so, we will develop a foundation that is solid and lasting," Overvold said.

Antoine also voiced his support for the formation of an intergovernmental forum.

"We are saying that as the GNWT, we can't put conditions on self-government arrangements. It's a change of position from a year ago," Antoine said.

"One of the areas to find added resources I'm working on is in the area of resource revenue sharing. It's the whole area of devolution that is the most logical direction to go for additional revenue."