ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
After months of meeting with Deh Cho communities and leaders, ministerial special representative Anne Marie Doyle wrapped up her time in the region this week.

Ministerial Special Representative Anne Marie Doyle, left, took notes during a meeting in Fort Simpson on Nov. 22. Beside her is Keyna Norwegian, officiating the meeting. - NNSL file photo

On Jan. 10, Doyle held her last meeting with community leaders during a session in Fort Simpson. The meetings will inform a report Doyle is developing on Dehcho Process negotiations, which is expected to be completed by mid-November.

Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian said the meeting gave everyone a chance to follow up on concerns they had expressed earlier in Doyle's visit.

"This is the second time (Doyle) sat down with the leadership. She said the first time around they needed to again go over the fine points they may have missed out on, so this is a two-way street and I think everybody felt good about that," Norwegian said.

Moving forward, Norwegian counsels patience. Although Dehcho First Nations has still not been presented with a new land offer, which was promised by NWT Premier Bob McLeod more than a year ago, Norwegian said Doyle's report could give the necessary momentum for an offer to be made.

"We're at a very sensitive stage right now," he said.

"We're doing everything we can, and the difficult thing right now is I don't want to say 'no' to the government, and I don't think they want to be in a position to say no to (what) would be tabled."

Norwegian said he hopes the report will include everything Doyle heard over her time in the Deh Cho. Having travelled with her to the communities, he said the meetings she had with each community gave people an opportunity to express long-held concerns about land, resources, governance, health and social issues, he added.

"Her job was just to listen, but it was an exercise where people needed to talk to her about how not having control over our land is creating a lot of problems for us," he said.

"What we heard (at the leadership meeting) and over the last few months was that a good chunk of land that we can secure for ourselves is really important, and it's going to require good governance."

Although Norwegian declined to discuss what Doyle said during the Jan 10 meeting, which went in-camera for the afternoon, he said Doyle's visits gave communities the chance to show her their traditional activities and culture, as well as a comprehensive look at each community's needs.

"It was a worthwhile exercise," he said.

"It's going to inch (us) closer to a final agreement, and it's going to give people the sense there's somebody out there listening to them.

"We feel we've done about as much as we could."

In the past, Doyle has said her report could push the GNWT and federal Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to create new mandates for their negotiating teams.