Hill Times Op-ed: DELIVERING ON PROMISES

The NWT Project Financing For Permanence offers tangible benefits from putting reconciliation into action built on a foundation of honouring our shared responsibilities to the land and people of the NWT. Photograph courtesy of Dehcho First Nations

February 26, 2024

By Grand Chief Ken Kyikavichik, Gwich'in Tribal Council, and

Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, Dehcho First Nations

As leaders of Indigenous governments, we have experienced firsthand the legacy of colonialism and the impacts of imposed decisions and past developments that did not consider our governance, perspectives, knowledge, and needs. We also understand solutions to complex problems can be elusive.

Take reconciliation, for example. Good intentions and uplifting words are not enough. We need comprehensive solutions that help us move forward on the journey of reconciliation to decolonize and build a respectful and hopeful shared future.

In the Northwest Territories, we are forging a way forward in the spirit of reconciliation and putting words and intentions into meaningful action.

A broad group of us has been working for nearly two years to build a unique partnership between Indigenous, territorial, and federal governments, and private investors that responds to climate change, sustains healthy lands, supports community revitalization, and fosters sustainable, economic growth. Our collaboration, called the NWT Project Financing For Permanence (NWT-PFP), offers tangible benefits from putting reconciliation into action built on a foundation of honouring our shared responsibilities to the land and people of the NWT.

We hope our collaboration will provide a model for the whole of Canada on how to address the pressing challenges of our time, strengthen Indigenous cultures, and demonstrate how UNDRIP can be meaningfully implemented on the ground.  

People around the world are grappling with profound changes to the environment. We know we must do a better job of protecting the lands, waters, and species we all depend on. We also know that our prosperity largely depends on the land and natural resources and on forging consensus on development decisions that will bring benefits for the people of the NWT.

So, for the environment, our agreement will support new and existing protected areas, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. In fact, the NWT-PFP will be the largest Indigenous-led conservation initiative in the world. And it will be the largest single contributor to Canada’s international commitment to protect up to 30 percent of lands by 2030. Without it, Canada is unlikely to meet that obligation.

For the economy, the NWT-PFP will support Indigenous Guardians and other stewardship programs, tourism entrepreneurship, and additional opportunities where development is compatible with conservation to generate much needed jobs in remote communities. Moreover, by working together through the PFP process to provide clarity on land uses, we can reduce uncertainty and help avoid controversy and delays for developers seeking public consensus and regulatory approvals.

And for our communities, the NWT-PFP will combine these land-based and economic benefits with opportunities to uplift the Indigenous knowledge and cultures that keep our people strong. Guardians programs, for instance, draw on this expertise in caring for the caribou, moose, and fish that sustain our food security. They also support language revitalization and have been shown to improve community health and wellbeing.  We know that if we take care of the land, the land takes care of us.

As you can imagine, forging this agreement in the vast NWT has not been easy, but the magnet of potential benefits has been a powerful force. That’s why 23 Indigenous Governments joined the Governments of the Northwest Territories and Canada, as well as private investors, to adopt a Framework Agreement last October. While we pride ourselves in the NWT on building consensus, this level of cooperative action is at a new scale. It is one incredible example of what reconciliation can look like.

Completion of the NWT-PFP agreement is weeks away… Click here to read the rest of the piece on the Hill Times site.