Fort Simpson (Apr 18/03) - "Well, the news has changed again."

Deh Cho negotiator Chris Reid's words pretty much summed up the whirlwind of activity prior to the signing of interim land and resource agreements in Fort Providence Thursday.

Over the course of several hours on Tuesday, the signing ceremony went from being completely cancelled to being reinstated without the K'atlodeeche First Nation to, at last word, being reinstated with the K'atlodeeche First Nation included.

According to Reid, the crux of the matter is the K'atlodeeche First Nation's lawsuit challenging the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The litigation -- an effort to prevent unionization of reserve employees -- was supposed to be formally suspended but hasn't yet reached that stage.

The federal government has a policy of not signing land claim or self-government agreements when litigation is in place. Therefore it appeared the Robert Nault, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), would not be endorsing the Deh Cho Process interim documents in Fort Providence.

The Deh Cho First Nations held an emergency leadership teleconference on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.

Then, Reid said, word came later that morning that Nault would indeed sign the deals, but only with an amendment excluding the Hay River Reserve from the interim agreements.

By afternoon, DCFN Grand Chief Michael Nadli reported that Nault was willing to sign the agreements inclusive of the K'atlodeeche First Nation after all.

"Now they're back in, and the minister wants to move ahead and sign the IRDA (interim resource development agreement). Period," Nadli said. "The important thing is that the signing will proceed."

A DIAND official said, "As you know during negotiated processes all kinds of things happen ... what I do know is that everybody's got their bags packed... and we're ready to sign."

Roy Fabien, chief of the K'atlodeeche First Nation, could not be reached for comment.