TTHEK'EHDELI/JEAN MARIE RIVER
Deh Cho leaders have agreed to use flexibility to help resolve some outstanding issues in the Dehcho Process.

Sambaa K'e Dene Band's acting chief, Ron Kotchea, left, reads a document while Arthur Jumbo and elder David Jumbo, also both of Trout Lake, listen to a presentation on June 26 during Dehcho First Nations' 22nd annual assembly in Jean Marie River. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Leaders and delegates at Dehcho First Nations' (DFN) twenty-second annual assembly in Jean Marie River spent the majority of June 25, the second day of the meeting, in camera discussing the Dehcho Process negotiations. When they emerged, they were ready to pass a resolution that gives their negotiators flexibility in some key areas.

Despite years of maintaining that natural resources in the Deh Cho should be managed by the Dehcho Resource Management Authority that would operate independently of Canada's Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, DFN is now willing to consider giving up the authority and having the act applied in return for an acceptable land and financial offer from Canada.

Dehcho Process negotiations are coming close to a conclusion, said DFN Grand Chief Herb Norwegian. A final agreement in principal could be ready as early as next year's annual assembly, he said.

As negotiations progress, DFN needs to give the federal government a signal that it is willing to give up on some things in return for others, Norwegian said.

"Everyone of these firm principals we have, everyone of them has a price tag."

The Dehcho Resource Management Authority has been a sticking point between the two sides with the federal government trying to get rid of the regional boards in the territory. DFN would want something of equal value in return, said Norwegian who suggested that they already have numbers in mind for what would constitute an acceptable land and financial offer.

The resolution also gives negotiators flexibility in other areas that the two sides have disagreed over including residency requirements for voting and access to Deh Cho lands by people who aren't Dehcho Dene or Dehcho citizens. Those would be people who haven't lived in the region long enough to qualify as citizens.

DFN has also signalled its willingness to look at different land ownership options for Dehcho Ndehe, the land that all people and communities in the Deh Cho will own jointly. The options include surface and subsurface rights, surface-only rights with a generalized interest in the subsurface or a mix of both.

All of these positions give DFN's negotiators flexibility to move forward in the negotiations, Norwegian said.

"It doesn't really tie us down," he said.

Chief Minnie Letcher of Liidlii Kue First Nation said she came out of the assembly feeling there is a good momentum and a consensus that the region is continuing to work together.

"I think the direction we gave the negotiators was something that we all agreed on," she said.

Letcher said she felt comfortable in being flexible on the Dehcho Resource Management Authority because she knows the region still has other means of representation including through the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.

"We are not without a voice," she said.

DFN is entering into a bartering position so all sides in the negotiations can reach a position that they feel good about, said Letcher.

Chief Stan Sanguez of Jean Marie River First Nation, the host community, said he also liked the fact that the resolution gives flexibility to the negotiators. It gives the communities a chance to make sure everything they want in the agreement is there, he said.

Land and resources are the most important issues and the resolution will allow communities to look at the land options and make them stronger, said Sanguez.

Leaders and delegates also tackled a related issue that was raised at the assembly -- how to properly inform community members about the Dehcho Process and the agreement in principle that is being worked towards.

"We have not had the capacity to engage our people," said Chief Tim Lennie of Pehdzeh Ki First Nation.

"You need to engage the young people so they can understand this is for the youth, for the future."

The idea of taking out a loan to fund the necessary work was raised, but many leaders spoke against the idea. They instead agreed to draw on DFN's war chest of approximately $2 million that has been saved over the years.

After listening to two options presented by Alison de Pelham, DFN's acting executive director, the assembly voted to use $368,000 to bring 14 people from across the region to Fort Simpson to receive five days of intensive training so they can act as community-based information officers and spread information in their community about the Dehcho Process, the agreement in principle and land options.

Of that $368,000, $334,000 will be used to cover the shortfall that will allow DFN's negotiations team to continue working for the rest of the year. An additional $100,000 will also be set aside to reimburse communities for the time used by their staff to be information officers.

Letcher said this position will be welcomed in Fort Simpson. Liidlii Kue First Nation wants as many of its members as possible to know about the negotiations, she said. The officers will be able to go door to door and use social media to spread the information.

"I'm feeling, after this assembly, that we are moving forward and that we're doing it together and that we're doing it in the best interest of the people we represent," Letcher said.