Search for Stability.

Almost forgotten in all the excitement over the appearance of Nunavut is the creation of another new territory in the western part of the Northwest Territories 

Two new territories have been created in Canada - Nunavut in the east and the new Northwest Territories in the west. The new Northwest Territories is 40% of the size of the old NWT. Its population is just 40,300, 600/o smaller than before division and about the same as the community of Belleville, Ontario. There are eight main aboriginal groups in the new NWT and nearly all are involved in land claims or self-government negotiations. The government has been struggling to balance its budget and has just been through the resignation of its premier over some suspicious land deals.

These are challenging times for the new NWT. The government itself recognized this in a document 1999 and beyond, released in January 1999: After years of change and uncertainty resulting from government cutbacks, getting ready for division and unsettled claims, treaty entitlement and self-government talks, we need to build a more stable environment.

The NWT government must tackle many long-standing issues: low education levels, boom-and-bust-economic cycles, substance abuse and social problems, chronic unemployment. To deal with these things at any time is tough; to deal with them while going through division is much more difficult.

Getting its economy in order has been the main priority of the government, and it continues to be. If the economy is a mess nothing else can be done. In 1998, the territorial government had a surplus in its budget after several years of racking up bigger and bigger deficits. While the government has stabilized its accounts there remains the challenge of the territorial economy as a whole.

The economy is resource based, which means good news and bad news.

The bad news is gold. The precious metal has been a valuable part of the NWT economy for decades; in 1997 gold mining accounted for nearly 10% of the territory's Gross Domestic Product. But the price of gold has been low for some time, forcing the closure of some gold mines and the scaling down of others.

The good news is diamonds. In 1991, a major diamond find in the Northwest Territories was announced. Since then, prospectors and mining companies have been staking claims all over the Lac de Gras region, northeast of Yellowknife. They re talking about some really big finds. Even Natural Resources Canada can't contain its enthusiasm; in 1998 it suggested that Canada appears destined to become one of the world's foremost diamond producers.

There is some very serious money involved. Dia Met Minerals will have invested almost $1 billion opening the first diamond mine in 1999. But, they 11 bedigging diamonds out of ground at the rate of two kilograms a day for about 17 years. That could translate into seven or eight billion dollars over the life of the mine. Another diamond mine is scheduled to open in 2001 by which time annual diamond mining output will be worth $1billion; world production in 1996 was worth $9.7 billion.

A major question for the Northwest Territories is how much of these billions will stay behind? The big money in the diamond business is made in the highly skilled crafts of cutting and polishing the stones, rather than mining them. The government of the NWT would like to have some of these value-added jobs brought to the mine sites. That's why it wants to have local control of natural resources. As the government puts it in its 1999 and Beyond document:

The federal government is still responsible for many of the west's natural resources. As a first step, we need to negotiate co-management agreements with the federal and Aboriginal governments. We should also work with Aboriginal governments towards the transfer of resource management and development responsibility to the government of the NWT.

While the NWT government tries to gain control of natural resources, it must also adjust to major downsizing. Government services account for 20% of the territory's Gross Domestic Product; the second most important industry after mining which accounts for 25% of GDP. Until the creation of Nunavut, much of the eastern Arctic's government services were co-ordinated from Yellowknife. These have now been transferred to Iqaluit causing a loss of about 500 jobs. That's an enormous economic hit for a community of 17,000 people to take, especially coming on top of the closure of a couple of local gold mines.

While stabilizing the economy is a tough job so, it seems, is stabilizing the government. There is the touchy issue of ethnicity to deal with. Non-aboriginals make up just over half the population of the new NWT. Most of the Native people are involved in negotiations to take over mineral rights that are now controlled by Ottawa. Self-government would also involve setting up governing structures that stand apart from the territorial government.

In September 1998, Premier Don Morin offered his suggestions for the future government of the new Northwest Territories. He called it partnership government in which Aboriginal leaders and the territorial government ran the new territory as equal partners. Some Native leaders made it clear they thought that idea stank. Chief Joe Rabesca of the Dogrib said the scheme amounts to a complete denial of the Dogrib First Nation Government as an Aboriginal tribal government. This is unacceptable to the Dogribs.

Two months later, NWT Premier Don Morin resigned. Conflict-of-interest Commissioner Anne Crawford said the premier used his position to profit from some land deals. She also says Mr. Morin provided documents he knew to be false and tried to shut down her inquiry. The ex-premier says he is innocent, but he's been replaced by Jim Antoine.

The uncertainty caused by Mr. Morin's departure came at a bad time, just as the territories were going into the stretch run towards division.

The new premier has tried to restore integrity and trust in government. But, almost immediately he was faced with a major setback. In 1992, a group called the Constitutional Development Steering Committee was set up and given the job of drafting a new constitution for the western territory. A couple of packages of suggestions were developed and discussed. The idea was to refine the suggestions, vote on them, and send them off to Ottawa for approval.

But, the Dene, Metis, and non-aboriginal politicians who formed the committee couldn't agree. In January 1999, they shut clown their office in Yellowknife and went home. Aboriginal leaders seem very reluctant to get involved in any constitutional changes until their self-government and land claims are settled.

The search for stability in the new Northwest goes on.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. Western territory Premier Jim Antoine has asked Prime Minister Jean Chretien to open negotiations for a better dealer the NWT on the development of, and royalties from, natural resources. During the 19806 the government of Newfoundland negotiated the Atlantic Accord (1985) and the government of Nova Scotia negotiated the Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resource Accord (1986) which gave the two provinces special status with regard to offshore oil and gas development.

Appoint a team of students to research these agreements and shorn how they relate to territorial claims to greater control over natural resources.

2. Set up groups of students to role-play the various stakeholders in the new Northwest Territories - Dene, Metis, non-aboriginals, NWT government, and federal government. Have them research their positions on issues such as mineral rights, resource management, the environment, government services. Then have the students role-play negotiations aimed at setting up a government system that mill keep everybody happy.

FACT FILE

Approximately 75% of the budget of the Northwest Territories is transfers from the federal government.

RELATED ARTICLE: A FULL AGENDA

At the start of 1999, negotiations over land claims and self-government were a major preoccupation of the government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government. Here is the list of NWT Aboriginal rights talks underway in January 1999:

* The Gwich'in/Inuvialuit self-government negotiations;

* The Deline self-government negotiations;

* The Dogrib combined self-government and land claims negotiations;

* The South Slave Metis lands, resources and program, and service negotiations;

* The Akaitcho Dene First Nations land, resource, and self-government discussions;

* The Salt River First Nation treaty land entitlement negotiations;

* The Deh Cho exploratory land and self-government discussions.

RELATED ARTICLE: WHAT'S IN A NAME

The Inuit of the eastern Arctic quickly settled on a name for their territory; the people in the western Arctic have not found it so easy. For the time being, they're going to stick with Northwest Territories despite the complaints that this isn't a name - it's a direction. Some have suggested Denendeh: Dene Land, but that seems to leave out other ethnic groups. Nahendeh, which means Our Land, is more inclusive. But, Minister of Natural Resources Stephen Kakfwi says that the current name, "has no soul, no culture, no meaning."

RELATED ARTICLE: A WIDER CONTEXT

Eight countries share the Arctic - Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. Together, these countries formed the Arctic Council in 1996. The Council held its first ministerial meeting in Iqaluit in September 1998 to review progress on issues affecting the Arctic environment. The group is also working on cooperative efforts in health, education, and economic development. The Arctic Council is unique among international bodies in that it has representatives from Indigenous peoples as permanent participants. Three groups - The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, The Saami Council, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North - represent the interests of Native people on the Arctic Council.

Health and environmental issues are close to the top of the agenda. Scientists have discovered "disturbing toxin levels" among Canada's Inuit. Chemicals such as dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides are turning up in the Arctic thousands of kilometres away from where they were used. Global warming in the North is a concern too. For example, recent research into ocean currents suggests that if global warming dramatically increased the volume of fresh water streaming into the North Atlantic as icebergs -- after they break away from glaciers -- it could permanently stop the North Atlantic current from protecting Europe from frigid Arctic waters.

Websites

The Arctic Council - http:// www.nrc.ca/arctic/about.html

National Forum of Canada's Circumpolar Relations - http:// www.cfp-pec.gc.ca/english/ccfpd/ pages/natforum/nf98.htm

Nunavut Handbook - http:// www.arctic-travel.com

Government of the Northwest Territories - http://www.gov.nt.ca/