N.W.T. deal pronounced dead

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After 14 years arduous negotiations the $500 million Dene-Metis land claim agreement is dead, said Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon.

"The cabinet has authorized me to terminate negotiations with the Dene Nation and the Metis Association of the Northwest Territories on the overall comprehensive land claim agreement," said Siddon at a news conference at the Nisku Inn, which was connected by telephone to Yellowknife.

The deal, reached din April, fell apart because the Dene-Metis refused to surrender existing aboriginal and treaty rights in exchange for the claim. Ottawa will not budge on the extinguishment clause, said Siddon.

The clause requires all claimants to surrender their aboriginal and treaty rights to the land and resources in exchange for other lands and benefits under the agreement.

But Siddon said the government will negotiate the claims on a regional basis with any of the five regional groups in the Mackenzie Valley, which are interested in making separate deals.

Talks will start immediately with the Mackenzie Delta Tribal Council and the Sahtu Dene-Metis council - tow regions which split with the 12,000 member Dene Nation over the aboriginal rights clause.

The deal, which was to be finalized by next March, would have given the Dene Nation and the Metis Association of the Northwest Territories $500 million, surface title to 181,000 sq.-km. of land, sub-surface rights to 10,000 sq.km. and special hunting and fishing rights.

Instead, the failed deal leaves the groups with a $400 million bill. The money was loaned to them to cover negotiating costs. The money was to be repaid with the $500 million settlement.

The chief of the Dene Nation said the Dene-Metis may take Ottawa to court to force the government to renegotiate the claim. Bill Erasmus said the Dene may use existing rights under Treaties 8 and 11 to "assert our sovereignty over the land given t us by the agreement.

"We will no extinguish our rights and if the government refuses to negotiate, we will take a hard line by assuring the rights we think we have."

Erasmus said aboriginal and treaty rights are entrenched in the Constitution and must be protected.

"They're inherent rights we've always had and we won't give them up. This is a human rights issue that must be clarified in court."