YELLOWKNIFE - They've been together for more than a 100 years, but last week they finally made it official.

The RCMP signed an agreement Friday in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly with the leaders the several NWT aboriginal associations, an agreement that finally makes the parties' commitment to working together official on issues affecting NWT communities.

North Slave MÈtis Alliance President Bill Enge signs the Public Safety Co-operation Protocol, which officially enshrines the collaborative relationship between the RCMP and NWT aboriginal groups. Wes Heron, RCMP corporal and writer of the protocol, stands behind Enge. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

The newly-annointed commanding of the RCMP's G Division, Chief Superintendent Tom Middleton, signed the agreement along with Northwest Territory MÈtis Nation President Vern Jones, North Slave MÈtis Alliance President Bill Enge and Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus.

The agreement is called the Public Safety Cooperation Protocol.The protocol states its purpose is to: "establish trust and reciprocal relationships among the parties with the goal of either preventing situations and community crisis, or resolving disputes... at the earliest opportunity."

Erasmus said the protocol will help "develop a more official way of dealing with potential crises which are solution-oriented."

Erasmus said he hopes the protocol will also help battle a longstanding preconception held by many people -and not just aboriginal people.

"I think that for many people in this country, part of growing up in society is that when you see police, people run. What does that mean? We want to get away from that. The RCMP is not the enemy."

Erasmus admits the relationship between the RCMP and the aboriginal community has, at times, been very fractious, but the new protocol allows for a working group of aboriginal leaders to meet on an ad-hoc basis with the RCMP to discuss potential crises.

"Those conflicts can be identified when we begin to sit down and talk things out with them," said Erasmus. "We want to prevent things from happing or escalating."

RCMP Corporal Wes Heron, who wrote the protocol, agreed that prevention is the number one goal of the protocol.

"If you have an emerging issue like a drug issue in the community, where the youth or young people are getting involved in this, and people see this, then information sharing could occur," said Heron.

"The police and leaders of the community will work together, sit and talk about the issue and how to tackle it so as to prevent it from happening in the future."

The protocol also encourages further orientation of RCMP officers in the culture of aboriginal residents.

"We want out members, when they live in the community, to get involved in the family fabric of the ommunity," said Heron.

"If we get involved, it shows to the community that there is a willingness to become part of the community."