Colleen Moore
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 13/03) - Singing and dancing broke out in the Great Hall of the legislative assembly at the end of the final session Friday.

After more than 12 years of negotiations, the Tli Cho land claim and self-government agreement got the stamp of approval from the GNWT in a surprising unanimous vote.

"I am so happy we got good support from everyone in the house," said Grand Chief Joe Rabesca of Dogrib Treaty 11 Council. "It's a good day to start Thanksgiving."

More than 300 members of the Dogrib First Nation were witness to the two-day debate over the bill, which recognizes the Tli Cho's rights to a self-government and access to 39,000 square kilometres of land in the NWT.

"This is an occasion for us to celebrate," said Mackenzie Delta MLA David Krutko. "For the Tli Cho people, this will only make your lives better."

The bill was not passed without much hesitation from some MLAs, however, who voiced serious concerns about the lack of public process that was neglected by the government.

"I don't believe the government has done its necessary obligation in educating people in the NWT as to what this bill means," said Brendan Bell, Yellowknife South MLA.

Bell said that although his concerns have always been with the process, he said more good would come from him supporting this agreement.

"We should recognize this is not the way constitutional work and development should take place," he said.

In a normal course of action, a committee would have 120 days to contemplate the act following second reading, but because the clock was ticking, Jim Antoine, minister of Aboriginal affairs, said it was important the bill was passed during the 14th assembly.

"I believe that if we support this bill's passage in the 14th assembly, it will send a clear signal to Aboriginal leaders that we are a legislature that supports self-government as we stated at the beginning of our term," he said.

Premier Stephen Kakfwi agreed, and made it very clear that he fully supported the passing of this bill, and encouraged members to be courageous when making their decisions.

"I know there's due process, there's expectations from our constituents," he said.

"Take a position of leadership. Tell them what, in your best judgement, needs to be done here."

This is only the first of three pieces of legislation required to be passed by both the GNWT and the federal government in order for the agreement to become law.

The Tli Cho community government act and the Tli Cho community service agency act will be dealt with in the 15th assembly elected in late November.

Antoine said at that time, the public will have an opportunity for input, but any amendments to the bill are unlikely.