Date for second devolution forum to be announced this week
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 25/01) - Discussions of devolution, capacity-building and resource revenue sharing are taking place on a playing field that is far from level, charges an official representing two aboriginal groups.
"You're always depending on government funding for participation in government-to-government negotiations," said Bob Simpson of the aboriginal summit. "So it's a little lop-sided."
But the chief negotiator for the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit in said the uneven arrangement that's part and parcel of the intergovernmental forum discussions is one aboriginal groups are used to; it is the basis of all negotiations between aboriginal and public governments, Simpson said.
Aboriginal summit executive director Graeme Dargo said Simpson serves as a prime example of the burden aboriginal groups are bearing.
"Every region is the same. (Officials) are operating with five different hats at the same time," Dargo said.
The summit represents the eight aboriginal groups involved in the negotiation.
Apart from a consultant, Dargo, who works on a part-time basis, is the only employee of the summit. He said ideally there would be a full-time employee working on intergovernmental forum issues in each region.
DIAND official Gary Bohnet said any time the summit has asked for funding "that makes sense" to the territorial and federal governments they've received it.
Bohnet said one of the focuses of a meeting of the next intergovernmental forum will be a long term financial plan.
A budget for aboriginal participation this year has not been approved. The territorial and federal governments contribute a third and two thirds, respectively. Last fiscal year, the summit's budget was approximately $700,000. Bohnet said DIAND's budget for the same period was $400,000.
Discussions of transferring federal powers to the territorial and aboriginal governments -- devolution -- are further hampered by the survival instincts of Ottawa-based DIAND bureaucrats. Transfer of responsibilities to the North means the transfer of jobs from Ottawa to the North.
Internal study
That's something the federal government was loathe to do two years ago. An internal study of the pros and cons of moving staff from Ottawa to the North concluded the move would result in increased costs, duplication and communications problems.
One third of the 100 people interviewed for the report were Ottawa-based DIAND bureaucrats. "Most staff at headquarters will not be prepared to move for the NWT for personal reasons," the report noted.
Bohnet noted DIAND minister Robert Nault has committed to move as quickly as the North can on devolution.
"At the May 5 forum, the Minister identified (DIAND NWT regional director general) Bob Overvold as the lead official on the intergovernmental forum," Bohnet said. "Bob not only briefs his colleagues in Ottawa, he briefs the Minister."
Dargo noted aboriginal groups encounter the same organizational resistance to change in self-government negotiations.
There are approximately 120 Ottawa-based employees working in DIAND's Northern Affairs Program. Hundreds more are working on Northern issues from Ottawa in other divisions of the department.
A date for the second intergovernmental forum will be finalized this week. The first was held last spring in Hay River. Since then, working groups of officials have been meeting every two weeks to work on four priority areas identified at the meeting: capacity building, economic development, devolution and financing.
With summer aboriginal assemblies on the horizon, the window of opportunity for an intergovernmental forum is shrinking.
"If we get into summer, it's going to be a problem," said Richard Bargery, special advisor to the territorial government. "We need to get this done by May, early June at the latest."
Bargery said no decision has been made yet on whether the forum will be open to the public. The last one was not.
DIAND spokesperson Gary Bohnet said he would not comment on intergovernmental discussions until first consulting with other participants.
"After I talk to my colleagues in the aboriginal summit and GNWT, we may get back to you," Bohnet said Tuesday.
Officials from all three levels of government are scheduled to meet Thursday.
