LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Premier Bob McLeod says he remains optimistic Dehcho Process negotiations will continue.
"I'm always optimistic," McLeod said March 13 about whether negotiations will prove successful.
Asked whether the government had any more flexibility should the sides return to the table, he said "they've rejected everything we've offered."
His comments to Deh Cho Drum came in the first interview he given on the topic since the rhetoric between the sides has ratcheted up.
Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian has said he believes a mediator is needed to bridge the gap between the amount of land the GNWT has offered DFN and what it wants.
Norwegian said in a March 4 news release DFN leaders rejected the government's latest land quantum offer of 37,500 square kilometres of surface land with a 17.78 per cent subsurface royalty share.
He said DFN is seeking up to 50,000 square kilometres.
The offer came out of bilateral talks between the GNWT and DFN.
McLeod said the sides worked for more than two years to get to this point.
In February, Norwegian accused the GNWT of bullying the DFN by trying to get it to accept the offer.
Earlier this month he said the government has threatened to "terminate" the Dehcho Process.
That's something McLeod said isn't true.
The 2001 Dehcho Framework Agreement, which formed the basis of ongoing negotiations to reach an agreement in principle, allows for a mediator should the sides reach an impasse.
"We've never been against facilitation," McLeod said. However, it's hard to consider it if there is talk of legal action, he said.
The GNWT received a letter asking for mediation then another raising the spectre of legal action, he said.
The GNWT is still awaiting a formal notification that its offer has been rejected, McLeod said. An April 6 deadline for a reply from DFN remains.
After that, the bilateral agreement is done and McLeod said talks revert back to the main negotiating table.
In the meantime, he said the government will "put (its) thinking hat on" to see if a way forward can be found.
Norwegian has said that the GNWT considering mediation gives him a "gleam of hope" things can move ahead to finish the Dehcho Process.
