Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 23/01) - Federal courts do not have jurisdiction over the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled in a landmark decision.

As a result, the separation of powers between the territorial and federal governments is no longer in a legal haze, said a senior territorial government lawyer after a recent landmark decision in the Federal Court of Appeal.

In the most sweeping definition of the territory's constitutional status, Justice Robert Decary ruled that federal courts do not have jurisdiction over the Government of the Northwest Territories.

This means the territory has its own powers to run the government. The decision came July 12, when the court overturned a federal court trial division ruling that the GNWT is an agent of the federal government in a lawsuit filed by the Federation Franco-TeNOise over French language access in the territory.

Earl Johnson, senior legal council with the territory's department of justice, said this was the most significant development in the evolution of the territory since the premier and cabinet achieved full executive powers in the form of responsible government in 1986.

Before that time, the Commissioner of the NWT retained full executive powers.

Johnson said the decision clearly defines in broad strokes the territory's constitutional status under the Northwest Territories Act.

The court said the GNWT's relationship with the federal government is akin to that of a city council's relationship with a province and that of Canada with the British Empire before Confederation. Johnson said this decision affects the various land-claim and self-government negotiations where the GNWT's right to sit at the table as an independent third party is heavily questioned.

"It was always ambiguous," said Johnson."But this judgment clarifies that."

This is not the first time a court has ruled the GNWT distinct from the federal government, but Johnson said it was always in narrow terms.

French language services in the NWT, the central issue in the lawsuit filed by the Federation, was never dealt with by either court.

Roger J.F Lepage, lawyer for the Federation, said in a phone interview from Regina, Sask. that the Federation will be filing a statement of claim with the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories before Sept 1.

The Federation had a choice of applying for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada or taking their action to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.