$375M agreement was a deal done differently

Creating the NWT’s new land protection trust, likely to be worth $375 million over the next decade, unified an extraordinary number of Indigenous nations and led to unusual steps in the legislature.

Some leaders told Cabin Radio the only comparison is the late 1980s, when the Dene and Métis of the Mackenzie Valley negotiated together but ultimately failed to finalize a single land claim with Canada.

“It’s quite unprecedented that we were able to do this in the time frame we had and then not only have the Indigenous communities onside, but also have the territorial and federal government onside also,” said Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Danny Gaudet of the Délın̨ę Got’ın̨ę Government.

More than 20 Indigenous governments based in the NWT are signatories to the agreement.

More: Get the detail of the agreement in a Q&A

The deal is expected to make available $300 million from the federal government and $75 million from private donors for land conservation and associated activities over the next decade and beyond.

Proponents say the deal shows conservation can become a significant driver of the NWT’s economy in its own right.

“Times have changed. Fifty years ago it was a government top-down approach, very colonial – ‘You follow the orders, you Indigenous guys, and then be happy.’ Now it’s us and it’s hand in hand,” said President Marc Whitford of the North Slave Métis Alliance.

“It’s a new day. There’s a horizon that doesn’t look so black and gloomy any more. And these funds, when they start to flow in, are going to measurably help our people.”

Dahti Tsetso is deputy director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which guided negotiations over recent years.

Asked what had to happen to get a deal of this scale across the line, involving so many parties, Tsetso said: “I think simply Indigenous leadership had to happen.”

“The Indigenous-led nature of this whole initiative has been the real key,” she said.

“It’s not always easy when you have a broad table of many partners who have different perspectives. It’s not easy to bring everyone together to find that place of shared interest and shared vision. From the very start, we worked really hard to honour Indigenous leadership in the conversation.”

Gaudet said many people had been “fighting to get their voices heard” through land claims, treaties and other processes, but had now found a different approach that appeared to work far more efficiently and effectively.

“All the Indigenous communities have something in common, and it’s our dependency on the land and its resources,” he said.

“We all recognize that, and this seems to be an appropriate mechanism to finally sit down at the table and work together.”

Three readings, one day

Getting the deal done required a break from the normal process at the NWT’s legislature, too – in the past, an institution sometimes seen as an obstacle by Indigenous governments.

Legislation creating the trust that will hold the $375 million was hurried through at such a pace that all three readings took place on one day.

Normally, bills of this kind are held for months between readings to allow for public engagement and detailed scrutiny by regular MLAs.

That didn’t happen this time. Even the day after the bill sailed through all three readings, its text had not been made public. (You can now find the bill here.)

Speeding through a bill in that fashion requires the consent of every MLA. Just one opposing voice can force a delay.

“A lot of effort went into ensuring that the legislation got passed in a very timely manner,” said Jay Macdonald, the NWT’s environment minister, who was responsible for steering the bill through the House.

“My cabinet colleagues and my other regular MLA colleagues in the House played a tremendous role in how they all supported moving this legislation forward and getting the bill through assent in a very timely manner.”

Macdonald acknowledged that pushing through a bill in such a manner could raise questions about how the public is informed about draft legislation and given an opportunity to examine it.

“That’s a really good point. The speed at which this went through was certainly unprecedented,” the minister said.

“With the really short timeframe that we had, we weren’t going to be able to go through all of the steps that would normally happen,” the minister said.

“I had many conversations with my colleagues in cabinet, as well as across the floor, expressing that exact sentiment. It’s critical that we follow our regular processes to the fullest extent whenever possible.

“This was just a circumstance that, you know, we had a really long discussion on what we could do – if we could even do this. It came down to all 18 members of the House agreeing that this was something we all supported in an effort toward reconciliation, and that was a significant enough factor that it allowed us to move it forward in a non-traditional manner.”

Macdonald said the bill had still been moved into a committee of all MLAs – albeit briefly – “to allow the regular MLAs to ask questions, to ensure that was done on the public record, to get as much of the process out in the transparency, for the public to have the opportunity to see that unfold.”

An ‘unusual path’

In the legislature, MLAs rose unanimously to welcome the establishment of the trust and the broader land conservation deal.

“I know that this bill has followed an unusual process – unusual path – but I also recognize that we’re still in the process of charting a new path of co-governance with governments, and there needs to be some give and take on all sides,” said Shauna Morgan, the Yellowknife North MLA.

“I hope we will get to a place where we have better procedures where we can all work together comfortably in this process of co-governance, but I’m proud today that we have done something that can provide a vehicle that will allow Indigenous governments to have the resources they need to move forward with taking care of the land.”

Richard Edjericon, the Tu-Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA, said the bill placed the legislature “on the road to looking at a constitutional reform.”

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said he and colleagues “did their heavy lifting and our due diligence.”

“The assembly needs to be and wants to be partners with these folks as well, and these governments, these peoples and these initiatives,” he said.

“I am pleased to see the good working relationship between the cabinet and Indigenous government, which we never had before,’ added Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong. “We are making progress. I am quite pleased about that.”

Global example

Tsetso said she understands the agreement sets up “one of the largest Indigenous-led land conservation trusts in the world.”

“I am incredibly grateful to all of the many people who invested a lot of time and energy into this initiative, and their leadership helping us get to this point, because it’s an incredible milestone,” she said.

“It poises us to become a global example. Those are things I think we can all share a lot of pride in. I’m excited see what the future holds.”

“It really shows the commitment of this government to the reconciliation process,” said Macdonald, “and how we’re prepared to work with our Indigenous partners.”