Rylund Johnson

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. This motion just says that before we enter into one of these agreements, they're going to come to AOC and say, you got any thoughts. I found it odd the Premier said that, you know, we enter into agreements all the time without talking to Regular Members because it's actually been exact opposite in my experience. I think I got two briefings on the offshore accord negotiations before we actually signed them. I think we I got a briefing on almost every single land claim and what was going on through the special committee on reconciliation in Indigenous affairs. I...

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I just will make some general comments on my thoughts. I think we as the government are in a pretty good place in implementing UNDRIP. We have a bill here before us today which is, you know, essentially identical to the ones passed by the federal government and British Columbia with a few minor tweaks. You know, there was a bit of a debate whether we should have done this earlier in the Assembly or a bit of a debate whether we should not have done it at all. I think, you know, getting it done within the life of this Assembly, considering it's a bill that you know...

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories in its capacity as a member of the action plan committee, advocate for the action plan committee to choose an independent person or entity to lead the fiveyear review of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories should, without delay, make all authorizations provided to a Minister to negotiate or enter into a shared decisionmaking agreement under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act publicly available by publishing it on a governmentmaintained website. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories should set up a funding framework to support Indigenous governments or organizations' capacity to engage with work to implement the declaration going forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories, in collaboration and cooperation with Indigenous governments or organizations, develop and release a clear statement on how it interprets and intends to apply free prior and informed consent. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think Prosper NWT is the greatest name ever; I love it, I'm excited. I'm really excited for the CEO and board and to truly become arm's length and hopefully they don't have to deal with any more MLAs for a long time. My only concern, though, is I think the board right now has four Yellowknife Members and one Fort Smith Member, and then has some vacancies. Can I get an update on how we're doing with trying to add some diversity to the board. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't usually ask openended questions because you know, but it's the end of the Assembly, and I'm just wondering if the Premier has any sort of reflection or a lessons learned, or perhaps that is something the negotiators are doing, about, you know, how we could perhaps speed up some of our negotiations. We have over 17 tables and, you know, to get something signed in four years is, I think, a disappointment. Is there any sort of reflecting occurring either by the Premier or within the department to look how we could speed some of these tables up? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I'm not actually sure that this is in other acts, that it does anything to list the specific land claims. You know, the original motion says section 35 of the Constitution Act and existing Aboriginal treaty rights, which then is meant to include of them. But we've done this before. And then we've kind of been having this debates in every single piece of legislation since this wording was introduced. And I would encourage the government I guess we don't have any time but to just put this in the Interpretation Act and then it applies everywhere, and we can call...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier when I asked the Premier some questions about progress on land claims in the spring, there was some perhaps minor optimism that she would sign a document in the life of this government. I'm just hoping the Premier can update this House whether there will be any signatures in the life of our government. Thank you.