NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Despite a new public opinion poll that suggests nearly three-quarters of NWT residents want a public vote on the devolution of lands and resources, and 61 per cent feeling public consultation to date has been inadequate, the territorial government is going ahead with its plans to bring devolution to a vote when the legislative assembly resumes next month.
New poll on devolution:
- 73 per cent of respondents say they want a public vote on devolution, much like the vote conducted before Nunavut split from the NWT in 1999 (17 per cent said no, while 10 per cent were unsure).
- 61 per cent said they want more public consultation on the deal, while 34 per cent believe consultation efforts to date have been sufficient.
- Nearly half (49 per cent) of respondents think the devolution deal is a good one for their community (18 per cent think it will make no difference, four per cent said it depends, while 14 per cent didn't know).
- Aboriginal and non-aboriginal respondents were divided in what they think about the deal (61 per cent of non-aboriginal respondents thought it was a "good deal," while only 36 per cent of aboriginal respondents responded the same way).
Source: Ekos Research Associates Inc.'s Public Attitudes Towards Devolution of Powers to the GNWT survey. A landline-telephone survey of 400 NWT residents over the age of 18.
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Public consultation meetings will take place in communities as early as this week but Premier Bob McLeod said his government is not seeking input, rather, to clear up "a lot of misinformation and misconceptions that are out there."
"A lot of people think that devolution is all things to all people, that it should deal with constitutional development, it should resolve outstanding treaty issues and so on," said McLeod.
"But in its simplest form, devolution is just a transfer of responsibility for land and water resource management."
A plain language version of the draft devolution agreement, released last month by the GNWT Office of Devolution an office overseen by the premier shortly after McLeod and Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a concession document marking the end of negotiations, states the agreement can be changed. But McLeod said that's not possible.
"If we go back, the deal's off and they're probably never going to come back," said McLeod.
The GNWT has put together a public presentation and a tentative schedule for community meetings, which has yet to be released to the public, and aims to visit each community in the NWT before the beginning of the next legislative session, said McLeod.
McLeod added he is "totally confident" his government will be able to adequately inform all interested members of the public on the details of the deal before the legislative assembly is back in session May 29.
Meanwhile, members of the Yellowknife-based social policy group Alternatives North have taken it upon themselves to gather information on what NWT residents think about the deal and are planning to hold their own public meetings to discuss the social and environmental impacts of devolution, said spokesperson Gordon Hamre.
"Alternatives North believes that there is a need for this kind of discussion, and we don't see anyone else doing it," he said. "We, in the NWT, are very close to what we see going on here to devolution. I think most of us realize that it's a good thing, that it's inevitable, that the North will be better managed by the NWT government rather than by one that's based in Ottawa.
"But it's a fair question to say, 'Is this a good deal?'"
The way the GNWT is going about its public engagement is troubling, said Hamre, because the government is only fulfilling its legal requirements to consult with aboriginal governments and is disregarding what the territory's non-aboriginal population thinks.
"It troubles me personally that this government that wants to govern the NWT, wants to do it in a manner that completely marginalizes the portion of the population that it is not legally required to consult," he said. "It's an absolutely minimalist approach."
Residents still want public vote
In a public opinion poll recently released by Alternatives North, 73 per cent of respondents said they still want a public vote on the deal, much like the vote that was held before Nunavut split from the NWT in 1999.
A motion to hold a plebiscite on the devolution deal was voted down in the legislative assembly on March 14 with a vote of 14 to two against the motion.
For the premier, the legislative assembly has already spoken on this issue, and the government intends to go forward with its plan to hold a vote during the May-June session. McLeod said cabinet minister will not be free to vote as they choose.
"For a motion of this importance, I expect that everybody will vote," said McLeod. "I would expect that cabinet will vote in solidarity."
