In 2015, NWT MP Michael McLeod entered the House of Commons in a Liberal majority that swept into power after nine years of Conservative government.
NNSL File Photo
Four years later, with another election looming in the fall and the territory celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, News/North spoke with the MP about his work with Indigenous governments and plans for a possible second term.
“Reconciliation is part of our responsibilities, he said. “We committed to moving forward on it. The process will take quite a while. There's many issues and many things that have evolved over long periods of time that will take time to fix.”
In addition to policy on Indigenous language and child welfare, he cited Bill C-88 — which reverses a Harper government move to replace all the territory's land and water boards with one “superboard” — as a step forward by his government.
Meanwhile, Bill C-262, which aims to align Canadian laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has hit delays and lingers in the Senate. Conservative representatives say it will have unintended consequences and lead to Indigenous peoples having a “veto” over natural resource projects.
“I don't see it as a veto and I don't think people should see it as a threat,” McLeod said. “Bill C-88 and the whole regulatory process in the NWT is a good example of UNDRIP in action.”
McLeod added that the bill is more concerned with Indigenous peoples participating in the process.
“I think there's a lot of conspiracy theories, a lot of people that don't have faith in Indigenous people,” McLeod said. “I certainly don't feel that way.”
He said the past four years were an effort for “good communication with all levels of government.”
He said he tries to attend as many Indigenous government assemblies as possible and that there's been progress with reconciliation, despite being “not completely where we want to be.”
When taking office in 2015, he said negotiations and discussions were at “ground-zero” because of the previous government and its approach.
“It's too slow — for everybody,” he said of reconciliation. “Not only the Indigenous people, but everybody in the territory would like to see things happen faster.”
McLeod pointed to forgiveness and reimbursement of debt from negotiating comprehensive land claims — amounting to $1.4 billion — as a positive step for Indigenous governments.
However, he said, the Indigenous governments of the Northwest Territories have a challenge in that the Crown-Indigenous Relations mandate is not clear or broad enough to include all Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Territories.
“The mandate specifies on-reserve,” he said. “We're always challenged when it comes to working directly with (Indigenous) affairs departments.”
On facilitating direct discussion with Indigenous governments, he said he hopes modern treaty holders and Metis governments make similar headway as their counterparts with settled self-governments.
“If it's one thing I'd like to see happen, it's to do a better job on getting the nation-to-nation concept operating a lot better in the North,” he said.
As he heads into another election, McLeod said a consistent priority will be “healthy people living in healthy communities” and “providing a good future for our youth.”
“There's many, many things we have to deal with. We have to deal with cost of living. We have to deal with infrastructure. We need to have strong Indigenous governments that are working shoulder-to-shoulder with other governments,” he said.