Devolution is an important step in the political and economic development of the Northwest Territories (NWT). Under Canada's Northern Strategy, the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Northerners have greater control over their resources and decision-making.
On June 25, 2013, the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement was signed by the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and Parties to the Agreement. The Devolution Agreement takes effect the moment it is signed and the Parties are working toward an effective date of April 2014.
The Government of the Northwest Territories currently makes decisions on behalf of its residents in almost all the same areas as a provincial government, but with the exception of the administration and management of public lands, water resources, mineral resources and oil and gas management. The Devolution Agreement transfers this last set of responsibilities from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. This will promote the self-sufficiency and prosperity of the NWT by providing its residents with a greater say in how land, water and resources are developed, and by giving the NWT the power to collect and share in resource revenues generated in the territory.
Negotiations began with the signing of the Agreement-in-Principle for NWT Devolution in January 2011. There are seven signatories to the AiP who were party to these negotiations: the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, the Gwich'in Tribal Council, and the Tłįchǫ Government.
On March 11, 2013, the signatories signed a consensus agreement on the terms for the devolution of lands and resource management from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories.
The Government of Canada concluded a second round of consultations with Aboriginal organizations and other stakeholders, prior to finalizing the draft agreement. All comments and information received were carefully considered. Legislation will be drafted for approval in federal Parliament and the territorial Legislature to give effect to an approved agreement.
The Devolution Agreement transfers decision-making and administration for land and resource management from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. The territorial government will become responsible for the management of onshore lands, the issuance of rights and interests with respect to onshore minerals and oil and gas, and will collect royalties.
The Government of Canada will retain responsibility for the remediation of existing significant contaminated waste sites, the administration of the issuance of rights and interests to the offshore, the negotiation of land claims and environmental assessments.
Implementation planning is underway. A committee, with representatives from the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal partners, developed a devolution implementation plan that will act as a guide for how the terms of the final agreement will be put into practice to ensure a predictable and transparent transfer of responsibilities.
The devolution process in the Northwest Territories has been underway since the 1950s with the successive transfer of responsibility for education, health care, local government and transportation. Over time, the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken on more province-like powers from the Government of Canada, aided by the financial resources provided through federal transfer payments.
The main federal funding to the three territorial governments is provided through the Territorial Formula Financing (TFF) transfer. This is an annual unconditional transfer from the Government of Canada to the territorial governments to enable them to provide their residents with a range of public programs and services comparable to those offered by provincial governments, at comparable levels of taxation. The formula takes into account the higher cost of providing programs and services in the North, and the TFF grant helps fund services such as hospitals, schools, roads and social services. In 2013-2014, the TFF transfer to the NWT will be $1.1 billion.
