Yellowknife (Feb 28/03) - The GNWT-Gwich'in memorandum of understanding on government contracts is wide open to misinterpretation and potential abuse, says the NWT Construction Association (NWTCA).

The NWTCA questions whether the GNWT's 50 per cent "minimum target" for government contracts in the Gwich'in settlement area amounts to a guarantee.

NWTCA president Bill Aho said the way the MOU is worded, it might well be "misinterpreted" that way.

The MOU was signed by the Gwich'in and the GNWT late last month.

As a working target, it stipulates that half of the dollar volume of government contracts in the settlement area will go to the Gwich'in.

It also includes the Gwich'in in contract planning and development, the first such undertaking agreed to by the GNWT.

The NWTCA expressed concerns over the MOU in a letter to Jim Antoine, minister of resources, wildlife and economic development (RWED) last week.

The MOU could be "misinterpreted as allowing the Gwich'in to sidestep the normal competitive bidding process and negotiate a minimum of 50 per cent of the best contracts."

The NWTCA is also concerned that the MOU could promote "storefront" joint ventures that would allow Gwich'in companies to "siphon off" some of the profit while subcontracting most of the work to Southern firms.

"We don't want to see projects simply handed to people," Aho said later.

"Nor do we want to see a large corporation coming out of the South and making a deal with the Gwich'in to give them five per cent off the top and no real construction capacity being built in the North."