Yellowknife (Mar 18/05) - Former premier Stephen Kakfwi delivered some harsh words after he attended a carefully staged event featuring Andy Scott, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

The packed meeting in the Great Hall of the legislative assembly Tuesday night was billed as a chance for NWT residents to pose questions to Scott, along with Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew and Premier Joe Handley, about the future of the Northwest Territories.

Former premier Stephen Kakfwi addresses a panel comprised of Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Andy Scott, and Premier Joe Handley during a town hall meeting at the legislative assembly, Tuesday. He criticized them for not consulting more with Northerners on devolution and Northern Strategy.

But Kakfwi said the town hall-style meeting had little to offer, and most residents remain confused about what the government-touted Northern Strategy really means.

"We're going to let people ask a few questions," Kakfwi mocked.

"There's no dignity in it. You wonder if we're getting ahead or just being left out of it."

Kakfwi said neither the federal or territorial government have done much to engage Northerners about their ideas on what the NWT should become after a devolution agreement is signed.

A draft Northern Strategy is supposed to be ready for Northern leaders to review by mid-April, around the same time an agreement-in-principle on devolution is expected to be handed down from Ottawa.

At the town hall meeting, Kakfwi criticized the Northern Strategy as a plan "drafted in the bowels of the civil service somewhere."

Kakfwi also took exception to Handley's comments that the NWT will go ahead with a devolution deal with or without support from the Akaitcho First Nations.

The Akaitcho and Dehcho First Nation have threatened to go to court if a devolution agreement is reached before land claims are settled.

Kakfwi said Handley, who was his finance minister during the last assembly, is an outsider who doesn't understand the issues facing NWT First Nations.

"It's not his place to criticize the Akaitcho for the amount of time they're taking to negotiate a deal," said Kakfwi.

"He's not from here, he doesn't know them, he doesn't know the land, the struggle they put into it, why it's so important."

Kakfwi also blasted Blondin-Andrew and Scott for the minister's appointment of former oil and gas consultant Todd Burlingame to the chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, which he said shows Ottawa has little faith in the NWT to manage its own affairs.

"As far as I know, the name Todd Burlingame was put forward by Ethel Blondin-Andrew, and the minister just did a favour to a Liberal crony," said Kakfwi the next day.

"She said he is the only one with the technical background to expedite the (Mackenzie Valley Pipeline) process, which is horseshit. There's a few hundred of us up here who can chair that."

He said Scott ought to buy out Burlingame's three-year contract, and find a replacement as soon as possible.

On Thursday, Blondin-Andrew responded to Kakfwi's charges.

"This is not the time for petty politics and personal gains. The most experienced and qualified person is in the job, and we stand by the appointment."

Tuesday's forum was punctuated with several soft, anonymous, write-in questions delivered by moderator Peter Clarkson, the mayor of Inuvik, but Kakfwi wasn't the only one who criticized the ministerial panel.

The first presenter, Deninu Ku'e vice-chief Diane Giroux from Fort Resolution, was cut off as she delivered a five-minute-long speech chastising the territorial and federal governments for pushing through a devolution deal before settling land claims.

Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, one of the first territorial politicians to jump on the Burlingame appointment when rumours began circling early last week, demanded to know what's on Scott's agenda.

Scott later conceded that his department has a lot a work ahead of itself.

"The input that we got tonight was that we need to do a better job engaging aboriginal communities, and resourcing the organizations we wish to engage so that they can engage meaningfully," said Scott.

Handley cautioned that devolution has little to do with land claim negotiations, while insisting there will always be room at the table for the Akaitcho and Dehcho to negotiate devolution.

"Treaties and treaty obligations will always be paramount to anything we do," said Handley.