Yellowknife (July 07/03) - Stephen Kakfwi is getting another opportunity at other premiers to promote the NWT's plan for devolution and revenue-sharing.

The NWT premier is heading to Charlottetown, PEI, for the annual premier's conference from July 9 to 11.

"I will tell them we need their support so the NWT can start contributing to Canada," he said Thursday morning during a phone interview.

Prior to heading east, Kakfwi sent a letter to each premier asking for support and provided them with background information on the NWT's plight concerning revenue-sharing.

The background information details the benefits the Mackenzie Delta pipeline as well as the growing diamond industry will have on the territory and the country.

The premier estimates the diamond industry at $1 billion a year. He adds that the developments of the Mackenzie Delta will contribute $89 billion to the Canadian economy.

The information sent to the provincial and territorial premiers states that the total government revenues from the pipeline would total $23.38 billion and Ottawa would receive close to $22 billion of that.

The NWT's net benefit according to the document would be $900 million, or $30 million a year based on the estimated lifetime of the project.

He told southern news media that a three-way split of royalties between the federal, territorial and aboriginal governments would be a "starting point."

The premier made a similar push earlier in June during the western premier's conference in B.C.