Name change hits boundary dispute
Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 26/01) - Sometimes a name is more than just a name.
The Legislature's Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight found that out during a public hearing last week.
The Feb. 19 hearing was on a private members' bill sponsored by North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty that would change his riding's name to "Monfwi."
Lafferty called Bill 17 "an important step in the government recognition of our distinct area."
The bill went through first and second reading without any opposition being voiced.
At the public hearing, however, it ran smack into the boundary dispute between the Dogrib and the Yellowknives Dene First Nations.
"Monfwi" is a Dogrib name for the region. Yellowknives chief Richard Edjericon warned the committee that changing the name would interfere "with our present negotiations (with the Dogrib), and effectively enter discussions on the boundary on the side of the Dogrib".
Lafferty said he was "surprised" by the turn of events.
"To deny me the name change, I don't think that's fair," he said.
Frame Lake MLA Charles Dent, who chaired the meeting, said he woke up that morning not expecting Bill 17 to be controversial.
"Sometime in the afternoon, I got word that there might be some opposition to it," Dent said.
Bill 17 is still before the committee. It is not clear when it will come up for third reading.
