SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - NWT aboriginal leaders are looking to meet with newly-appointed Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Minister John Duncan to discuss future Northern priorities within the department.

After a minor federal cabinet shuffle Aug. 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Duncan would be taking over the INAC portfolio from Chuck Strahl, who became INAC minister three years ago and will now serve as Transport minister.

Duncan, 61, a British Columbia MP for Vancouver Island North, has been Strahl's parliamentary secretary on the INAC portfolio since 2008. Prior to the 2006 federal election, he was party critic for INAC and several other portfolios, however he has not previously served as a cabinet minister.

Since his appointment, Duncan has already faced doubt from opposition in national media reports about his ability to handle aboriginal affairs as a rookie minister, and received criticism from the Green Party of Canada for failing to issue a statement on Aug. 9, the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.

But local aboriginal leaders are hoping to meet with Duncan at the earliest opportunity, saying they're confident he'll do a good job as minister.

Bill Erasmus, Dene Nation chief and regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, said Duncan's previous work as a parliamentary secretary will be an asset.

"He's familiar with the issues and will be able to move on things quickly," Erasmus said, adding he's not concerned that Duncan has never before held a cabinet portfolio.

"I'm not overly worried about that," he said, adding that Duncan, as with all cabinet ministers, will likely follow the prime minister's lead. "They don't really allow a lot of room for independent thinking within that process, so it depends how he fits in within the existing system."

Erasmus said it's imperative that Duncan visit the North as soon as possible.

"He needs to meet with our people up here and hear out what people are thinking and what we would like as our own priorities and not try and push the priorities from Ottawa," he said. "That's really important. And then we'll go from there."

Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Chair and CEO Nellie Cournoyea agreed.

"We've had, certainly, a very, very good relationship with Chuck Strahl and I'm very familiar with John Duncan," she said. "I'm looking forward to meeting with him so we can set up a continual agenda on some of the issues we have to address, and also get ongoing support for projects."

Cournoyea said leaders in the region need to continue working with the federal government on issues such as infrastructure, education, health and social issues.

"We feel that Minister Strahl has been very supportive of us in all of those areas and we would like to have the continuation of that," she said, adding that looking forward, "the minister of Indian Affairs has a lot in his mandate to deal with issues on offshore (activity), so we need to be addressing a number of issues around that as well."

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington has said he hopes he can work together with Duncan in his position as Northern Development critic for the NDP.

"There are so many vital Northern issues, such as climate change, Arctic sovereignty and devolution that Mr. Duncan will need to work with me in order to build the better North that Northerners want," Bevington was quoted as saying in an Aug. 6 statement from his office. "I'm taking a wait and see approach to see if the new minister's actions show he wants to work with Northerners to build a better North."

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