FORT SIMPSON - The Dehcho First Nation will not nominate any members to two boards that deal with resource management in the Mackenzie Valley.

The Deh Cho First Nations (DFN) won't participate in any boards set up under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA), said Grand Chief Herb Norwegian. This means that DFN won't nominate members to be considered for positions on the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board (MVLWB) or the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB).

Norwegian said the DFN office is getting a barrage of letters from the office of the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to put forward members, but they are keeping to their longstanding position not to participate in the boards.

"We never did buy into the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. The attempted to shove it down our throats," said Norwegian.

Leaders in the Deh Cho consider the boards to be illegitimate and constitutionally inapplicable to the Dehcho people and their territory, he said.

Instead of the current boards, the Dehcho First Nations wants to establish a Dehcho Resource Management Authority, a stand-alone organization that would have similar powers over the Deh Cho region as the current boards, said Norwegian. The authority would manage the Deh Cho Land Use Plan if it were implemented.

The Deh Cho Land Use Plan has been a contentious issue in recent federal negotiations. Federal negotiators have said that neither the federal nor the territorial government will approve the plan in its current form.

In a joint decision, the negotiation session scheduled for this week was cancelled because of conflicts with the federal budget. The next session is scheduled for early April.

By refusing to nominate members, the Deh Cho First Nations is only damaging itself, said James Lawrance, the director of aboriginal and territorial relations with the INAC regional office.

"From the federal point of view this is detrimental only to the people of the Deh Cho region," Lawrance said.

The refusal to provide nominations has no detrimental effect on the boards' ability to operate, he said.

The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act states that the minister of INAC will make appointments to the boards with consultation.

In the Interim Measure Agreement signed between Canada and the Dehcho First Nations it was agreed that DFN would have the chance to nominate candidates. When nominations aren't made the minister makes appointments, said Lawrance.

"It would be Canada's preference that the Dehcho First Nations would nominate members as agreed in the Interim Measures Agreement," he said.

In response to the statement that the boards are illegitimate, Lawrance said the MVRMA is legislation passed by the government of Canada and applies to the Deh Cho region.

Lawrance was unable to say what response will be made to the Dehcho First Nations, but said the minister will be considering the matter.