Indigenous government and the future of the GNWT – Northern News Services

December 9, 2019

The self in self-government refers to the people in distinct and autonomous communities who have been waiting for their treaty rights to mature like a long-term savings bond.

The governing has to come from somewhere else. It’s why progress toward the ideal for Indigenous governments from the Dehcho to the Beaufort becomes a zero-sum exercise: if a local body is going to expand the cache of public services it has control over and responsibility for, an upper level of government is going to have to give something up.

In the Northwest Territories, that’s probably going to mean a leaner GNWT.

In Antoine Mountain’s column this week, he points out the treaties that apply to what is described now as the Northwest Territories, 8 and 11, embody a nation-to-nation conversation. Canada is a “bystander” to these agreements with the British Crown. There is no consideration given to a regional body acting as a go-between for the go-between.

Read More: https://nnsl.com/nwtnewsnorth/indigenous-government-and-the-future-of-the-gnwt/