Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 22/02) - A project spearheaded by the premier's wife and aimed at celebrating the last 25 years of political development in the North continues to generate more news than history.

The Living History Society and the territorial government are in a legal wrangle over ownership of videotaped interviews.

The unedited tapes contain interviews with Thomas Berger, who conducted an inquiry into the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline a quarter century ago, and former commissioners Stuart Hodgson and John Parker.

The interviews were produced by Marie Wilson, the society's project director and the wife of Premier Stephen Kakfwi. At least part of the funding for the tapings -- $2,387 for a cameraman -- was provided by the territorial government.

"Given that, we felt we had a claim or whatever on the tapes," said Bernie Hughes, the government's liaison with the Living History Society.

But the acting Minister of Education, Culture and Employment said as far as he is concerned, there is no dispute.

"They're in our possession and until someone asks for them there is no issue," said Joe Handley.

Handley said the government paid for the shooting of the tapes and therefore owns them.

Wilson referred questions to society spokesperson Peter Allen.

Allen said Wilson was claiming an ownership interest in the tapes, which were shot last fall.

"If the society does not exercise its interest in the material on those tapes, then I don't think it's in the public's interest to say no forever, that Marie cannot use these tapes for any purposes without paying."

Hughes said a legal opinion the government received late last week indicated the government owned the raw tapes but not the copyright to the finished product.

The interviews are part of a set of nine that will form a video narrative of the political development of the North, Allen said. Wilson is reportedly the only person to have viewed the tapes.

"There were a number of loose arrangements between some people and government that weren't at that point solidified," Allen said.

It was another loose arrangement that first drew the society into the spotlight.

It requested $500,000 in funding from the government without submitting a grant proposal. The funding was included in the proposed Aboriginal Affairs budget.

The amount was halved after a committee of MLAs questioned the government's casual handling of the grant.

It was later dropped from the budget after Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jim Antoine, a neighbour of Kakfwi and Wilson's until the last election, failed to convince MLAs proper process had been followed.

The government later provided $100,000 toward a symposium the society will host in Yellowknife next month.

In addition to funding for the cameraman who shot the video interviews, it provided at least $50,000 in funding last fiscal year.