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One hundred and forty-three years after Northwest Territories joined Confederation, and more than a decade after negotiations began, a devolution deal was finally inked at a ceremony in Inuvik Tuesday that will grant the territory rights comparable to a province, with the power to create laws to manage water, land and resources, and a share of industrial profits. But with some aboriginal groups still withholding their consent and fears the new responsibilities could overwhelm the territory’s capacity to manage them, the future of the vast northern region is uncertain.

The National Post’s Joseph Brean sizes up the shift.

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Q: What exactly has changed, now that this deal is signed?



A: Nothing yet, and nothing will until it comes into force next year. It will not affect the Constitution, turn the territory into a province, diminish aboriginal rights, or affect land claim agreements or negotiations. But it is a major deal that will transfer authority over Crown land, water and resources to the territorial government and aboriginal groups. Actually, since no one owns water, the deal refers to “rights in respect of water,” and the ability to make laws to govern its use. Offshore resource rights, of critical concern in the Arctic, are not affected, but a clause requires negotiations on them to begin within two months of devolution coming into force.