Latest news with #IndigenousGovernments
CBC
24-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
N.W.T. making good progress on conservation goals, auditor general finds
Canada's auditor general says the Northwest Territories government is "on track" to meet its conservation goals. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada presented its report on conservation areas in the Northwest Territories to MLAs and the public on Friday. It covers the territory's work on this issue from 2016 to 2024. The report looked at the government's progress in addressing three of the territory's conservation priorities: ensuring long-term funding for conservation areas, strengthening management of protected areas, and establishing new protected and conservation areas. The auditor general found the territory had made "timely progress" on achieving the goal of ensuring sustainable conservation funding — largely because of the "N.W.T.:Our Land for the Future" conservation agreement signed last year. The agreement provides $375 million to Indigenous governments in N.W.T. for conservation initiatives, with funding coming from the federal government and private donors. "This crucial step underscores the government's commitment to implementing an Indigenous-led approach to protected and conserved areas. It will support Indigenous peoples' stewardship of their lands while also helping the territory expand its conservation network," auditor Jerry DeMarco told reporters on Friday afternoon. The auditor general's report said the territory is also on track to meet its other two conservation goals, although there are issues with the management of Territorial Protected Areas that need to be addressed, including a need for more monitoring to determine how co-management partnerships are working. Recommendations The auditors also flagged that many of the territory's hiring decisions related to the management of protected areas were made without input from Indigenous partners, and they recommended that the territorial government change this. The report also said that the territorial government's continued reliance on short-term federal funding to manage protected areas was a concern, as it lead to many jobs being filled through short-term contracts, resulting in high turnover. "We heard from Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations that the increased turnover placed a burden on their staff to share their Indigenous knowledge each time a new employee from the government joined the operational team of the territorial protected areas," the report says. The report also urges the territorial government to work with the Tłı̨chǫ Government and Dehcho First Nations to develop a plan and timeline by the end of 2025 for five proposed protected areas where negotiations are currently stalled.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Northern premiers show openness to removing trade barriers with western provinces
Territorial premiers are signalling openness to removing trade barriers with western provinces, but not without conditions. Speaking after the conclusion of a western and northern premiers' summit in Yellowknife on Thursday, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have invited the territories to join their trade pact, the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. "They've opened up the door for us, with flexibility and respect to the North, for us to sign on to the western trade agreement that's in place," said Pillai. "My sense from my colleagues from the other territories, and ourselves from the Yukon, are that's something that we think is important." In a joint statement on Thursday, the western premiers urged all provinces and territories to join the New West Partnership. The federal government prioritized freeing up trade within Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war with Canada in the winter. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his government and Canada's premiers have agreed to developing a national trade strategy. On Thursday, the western and northern premiers said "unjustified and unreasonable tariffs" are creating uncertainty for workers and businesses in western Canada. They called on the federal government to "reassess" Canada's retaliatory tariffs and their impacts on people in Canada. Indigenous gov'ts must be involved in trade decisions: Pillai It's unclear what joining the western trade bloc would mean for existing protections for Northern and Indigenous businesses. In the Northwest Territories for example, the Business Incentive Policy (BIP) gives preferential treatment to N.W.T.-owned businesses bidding on government contracts. The Yukon has a similar procurement policy related to Yukon First Nations-owned businesses. Pillai pointed to the North's high concentration of modern treaties and said "we can't make a unilateral decision about removing a certain exception without sitting down with Indigenous governments and figuring out what's best for all northerners." Earlier this month the northern premiers said they would explore the possibility of a "territorial trade zone" that would account for modern treaties. N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson did not commit outright to maintaining BIP if and when trade barriers come down, but said on Thursday that his government does want to make sure that public money spent in the North benefits northerners. "We're not opposed to inviting companies from other parts of Canada to come up here and do business and work, but we need to make sure that we have the ability to support local businesses so that we don't just become a colony for the rest of Canada," he said. Simpson said previously that efforts to allow freer trade across Canada will likely mean the N.W.T. will have to "give up some things." Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe called the New West Partnership the "gold standard" when it comes to free trade, labour mobility and procurement rules. Moe said the western provinces would consider some exemptions for the territories, should they choose to join. "The four host provinces of the New West Partnership are more than willing to look at that," he said. The premiers talked about a range of issues in their closed-door meetings, including energy and Arctic security, economic corridors, housing, drug trafficking and emergency preparedness. But outside those meeting rooms, the conference was overshadowed by Alberta separation rhetoric, and worries about the impacts on N.W.T. young people of Alberta's Bill 26, which restricts gender-affirming care for minors. Wednesday evening, after the first day of meetings, the Dene Nation and the Northern Mosaic Network held rallies outside the Legislative Assembly building in Yellowknife to show support for treaty rights and trans rights. Last week Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government passed legislation that would make it easier to hold a referendum. At the same time, separatist groups in the province have been pushing for a provincial vote on Alberta seceding from Canada. Dene National Chief George Mackenzie said the Smith government's actions send a message to the Treaty people of Alberta: "If you're not happy, leave Alberta." "To say that to Alberta Natives is like a slap in the face. An insult," Mackenzie told CBC. Treaties 6, 7 and 8 encompass vast swaths of territory in Alberta and other provinces. Treaty 8 also covers a portion of the Northwest Territories. On Thursday, Smith re-stated her desire for "a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada." "The frustration that Alberta has, has been that it's been a lot easier to do business with our southern neighbour than it's been to do business across the country," she said. Smith said that if Carney acts on ideas in the western and northern premiers' joint statement, "it would take the wind right out of any [separation] effort."
