Jason Unrau
Northern News Services
Friday, July 13, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Following what he called a positive Western Premiers Conference in Iqaluit, premier Joe Handley was off to Calgary for a meeting with Indian and Northern affairs Minister Jim Prentice earlier this week.

Joe Handley: "I get tired of talking about revenue sharing..."

On the agenda were revenue sharing and devolution, outstanding land claims and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

"Yes, I get tired of it talking about revenue sharing and devolution," said the premier prior to his trip. "But I think we gain nothing if we stop talking about it. Sometimes with the federal government you have to persevere... I’m not going to give up on it because it’s too important for the North."

At the Western Premiers’ Conference, both the NWT and Nunavut reiterated their desire for keeping control of resource dollars gleaned from the territories’ respective natural resources.

After Handley was elected premier in 2003, he made it the government’s mandate to strike a deal, but with an Oct. 1 election around the corner, it appears it will elude Handley, as it did his predecessor Stephen Kakfwi.

When asked if he would run in the coming election, Handley made no commitment either way.

"I haven’t decided 100 per cent yet but whatever I do it will certainly be my recommendation that (getting a revenue sharing deal with Ottawa) be the direction of the future government. And I’ve got until next election to carry on with my government’s mandate and I intend to do that."