SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The federal government's recent announcement of its Northern Strategy shows Ottawa's lack of understanding about Northern issues, NWT Premier Floyd Roland told reporters Friday.

The feds did not consult with the GNWT before unveiling their vision for the North, which includes a focus on Arctic sovereignty, heritage, social and economic development and "improving and devolving Northern governance, so that Northerners have a greater say in their own destiny," according to the announcement by Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

"Our Government is making the North one of our top priorities, placing it higher on the agenda than it has been in many decades," Strahl was quoted as saying in a release July 26, the day he made the announcement in Gatineau, Que.

The announcement emphasized progress on investing in Northern housing, getting more patrol ships and an icebreaker for the Arctic and expanding the Canadian Rangers - projects that have been underway since the government's previous northern strategy announcement two years ago.

Roland said during a July 31 press conference that Ottawa needs to work with the GNWT and take seriously its plans for Canada's North in co-operation with the Yukon and Nunavut.

"We're pleased to hear any mention of the North but at the same time, our position is that they need to work with us when they come up with their positions and formulate how they're going to work in the North with us in partnerships, not as just stakeholders," Roland said. "We continue to get more information internationally about the interests in the Arctic and we need to be a part of that; we need to be at the table when those discussions are happening, and not sitting waiting for an announcement about what might be done in the North."

He said the GNWT's priorities include pushing forward on the Mackenzie Gas Project, the Mackenzie Valley highway, sustainable energy and a devolution deal.

While promises of icebreakers might be a good way of promoting Arctic sovereignty on the national scale, Roland said, true sovereignty for the North depends on economic development and creating "sustainable communities" in the territory. As for specifics, Roland said he and the two other Northern premiers would have to go back and review their own northern strategy, which they put together prior to the 2008 Nunavut election.

"We'll have to sit down and see if that's still our approach. Meanwhile, ourselves as a government of the Northwest Territories we've started working on a number of factors that we believe the federal government should be taking into consideration before it launches off on another so-called northern strategy announcement with icebreakers."

Roland said the recent announcement was just another example in a long history of southern governments "missing the mark" on matters critical to Northern development - and he hopes one day these kinds of federal announcements will be made in the North, rather than in the South.

"It just goes to show there's still a large gap that exists between where the federal government is, their understanding of our issues and what's key to us in trying to develop our economies and our political development."