The territorial election has come and gone, but prior to election day in Dehcho and Nahendeh, the Dehcho First Nations held all-candidates forums to help voters get a better sense of what the candidates were advocating.

Dehcho First Nations (DFN) Grand Chief Herb Norwegian shared his thoughts after the Nov. 1 and 2 forums.

SA国际影视传媒淚 thought some of them were there as far as responding to the question, some of them, I thought, didnSA国际影视传媒檛 come close enough. We wanted to hear something solid, you know, something saying, SA国际影视传媒榊es! I am going to donate my full time in the Dehcho on getting this whole (self-government process) resolved.That is the first issue that is on my agenda and that is what I want to get done, if weSA国际影视传媒檙e going to resolve all the homelessness and the big-ticket items in this riding. One of the things is to get certainty, to get certainty right away.

SA国际影视传媒淚f the territorial government could start moving and start dealing with us on trying to resolve a lot of the big issues that weSA国际影视传媒檝e put to them at the table then we could move on, but for some reason or another these little things are being dropped on the table and for no reason at all. They have no reason to put these roadblocks up as weSA国际影视传媒檙e moving along, and so, that was what we were having problems with.

SA国际影视传媒淪o what we wanted to do was to see if we can actually put the candidates online, and have them be very clear with us where they wanted to go with us here, and so I kind of thought that some of them were able to do it,SA国际影视传媒� said Norwegian.

SA国际影视传媒淚n Fort Providence SA国际影视传媒� there were four of them that ran there SA国际影视传媒� I thought all four of them were really good. And all four are members, they all belong to Dehcho First Nations, and they are really good.

SA国际影视传媒淗ere in the Dehcho, we had a mixture of people, and all in all, they were under the watchful eye of the entire forum. They knew that they were being watched and they had to be very careful on how they talked. But I think we did put them on notice. You know, they were told, SA国际影视传媒楾his is the big issues,SA国际影视传媒� and come election day we hope that weSA国际影视传媒檒l hear something a little stronger from them.SA国际影视传媒�

When asked what heSA国际影视传媒檇 like to see, ideally, from the successful candidate, Norwegian replied, SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檇 like someone to be able to be right up front and say that, SA国际影视传媒榊es, the Dehcho Process is the number one ticket item that we need to resolve,SA国际影视传媒� and if the candidates know that there is a lot of uncertainty here, in both ridings SA国际影视传媒� in Nahendeh and in Dehcho SA国际影视传媒� itSA国际影视传媒檚 the result of no final claim. A lot the other regions have final agreements.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e got some great ideas, some good ways on how we can move forward. One of them is that there is no need for the Dehcho to extinguish or release land to governments, those days are long gone. You know, the whole process of divvying up lands or selecting lands, itSA国际影视传媒檚 clear that our membership are saying that they donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to go down that road. But I think the other option SA国际影视传媒� and this is one of the designs and one of the creative things that we were able to come forward with SA国际影视传媒� is to start talking about shared stewardship, where youSA国际影视传媒檙e actually talking about shared authority or share management, rather than talking about, SA国际影视传媒楾his is yours,SA国际影视传媒� and SA国际影视传媒楾his is mine.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淏ecause, in fact, where a lot of that SA国际影视传媒榮haredSA国际影视传媒� idea exists, and where it started back in the old days, was that if you look at the treaties carefully and all the ways the Elders were talking, they were talking about SA国际影视传媒榮haring,SA国际影视传媒� about sharing responsibilities,SA国际影视传媒� Norwegian added.

SA国际影视传媒淪o, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 where weSA国际影视传媒檙e coming from and we hope that the territorial government and Canada understands that at this day and age, in this mood of reconciliation, we need to take back what rightfully belongs to us, right from the beginning. And so, we can go down that road, carve out a trail, and once we get to the top of that pyramid, then I think weSA国际影视传媒檙e there. And we just need to find where that shining light is, and just claw our way to the top. And I think weSA国际影视传媒檙e on the right track.SA国际影视传媒�