Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Mar 17/00) - Funding is becoming a crucial issue in the Deh Cho Process self-government negotiations.

The Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN) is seeking funding for the negotiations process itself, for land-use planning and for consultation with the 10 communities in the region.

"We're trying to address it, but there's no one big pot of money, that's for sure," federal negotiator Robin Aitken said Sunday after the third and final day of the most recent negotiating session wrapped up in Fort Simpson.

"Everybody could always use more money. It's a matter of finding it."

Time is another matter. DIAND Minister Robert Nault has talked in general about fast-tracking negotiations in the past, but the Deh Cho Process is not being rushed, Aitken said.

Deh Cho Grand Chief Michael Nadli had expressed concerns in recent weeks about pressure from the government to sign a framework agreement and an interim measures agreement by March 31. That was a target date, not a deadline, according to Aitken. He said Nault wants an agreement as soon as possible, but if those items are held over until they are approved at the Deh Cho Assembly in July, that's acceptable to the federal government. He and DCFN chief negotiator Chris Reid agreed that having those matters resolved by July would be relatively fast anyway.

Reid said that land-use planning was again one of the primary issues in the latest round of talks. With part IV of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA) about to become law on April 1, the DCFN negotiating team is seeking ways to use it constructively as a temporary measure within the interim measures agreement (IMA), Reid noted.

The DCFN negotiating team met Monday with a representative from the MVRMA board to discuss options. Aitken said the federal government is "pleased that dialogue is going on."

The proposal currently before the DCFN is to use a three-person land and water panel -- consisting of one panellist from the federal government, one from the DCFN and a chair appointed by the MVRMA board -- to deal with land-use permitting issues, Reid said. Those land-use permits would be possible in areas not designated as protected areas, as First Nations elders have instructed, he said.

In the future, the land-use planning process and the Deh Cho Resource Management Authority will prove to be more streamlined than the MVRMA, and will encourage development by eliminating some of the regulatory red-tape by having well-defined land-use areas, he predicted.

Another topic that has to be explored further is a co-management plan for Nahanni National Park -- within the park and the potential expansion of park boundaries as proposed by the DCFN.

The role of the GNWT is still an outstanding issue as well. It will be necessary to have an agreement up front that defines the GNWT's role, Reid suggested. They may be invited to sit at the table when education and health are discussed, but not during talks on the use of "Crown lands," except when it comes to forestry, he offered as examples.

The next negotiating session has been scheduled for March 30-April 1 in Hay River.