Ottawa (Apr 26/04) - The Tlicho land claims and self government agreement came one step closer to becoming a reality Wednesday when it passed a second reading in the House of Commons.

"It was an encouraging step," said John B. Zoe, the Tlicho chief negotiator.

"It means the process is still chugging along."

The Tlicho agreement would see 39,000 square kilometres of territory in the North Slave fall under the jurisdiction of a Dogrib government.

The deal, which is one of the first of its kind in Canada, means Dogrib officials will have the authority to pass laws, administer health and education dollars, and control mining and exploration within the settlement territory.

Several members of the House of Commons -- including Saskatchewan's Rick Laliberte and Nunavut's Nancy Karetak-Lindell -- spoke in favour of the bill, said Zoe.

"They discussed how the agreement would provide certainty for the North, which in turn would aid development," he said.

The bill passed by a vote of 179 to 57 and will now go before the Northern Affairs Committee -- a by-partisan group of 15 to 20 MPs -- for a thorough review.

The committee will report back to the House of Commons before a third and final vote is held.

If the bill makes it through the House, it will have to pass three readings in the Senate before it becomes law.

Despite the myriad of procedures, Zoe said the Tlicho agreement could come into effect relatively quickly, barring an election call by the Paul Martin Liberals.

"An election would be a major blow," said Zoe.

He worried it could take several months before the bill worked its way back into the queue following an election.

In the meantime, Zoe said Tlicho representatives will try to convince the 57 MPs who voted against the bill to change their minds.

According to Hansard, the MPs against the Tlicho bill were members of the Conservative Party.

"We still have to explain the process to a number of people, which we will be doing," said Zoe.