Government of NWT – Leaders from the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and the five Indigenous governments with modern treaty and self-government agreements in the Northwest Territories held their third meeting as the Modern Treaty and Self-Government Partners (MTSGP).
Leaders discussed a range of issues of mutual interest related to implementation of land, resources, and self-government agreements, including:

• Moving forward on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the NWT through the working group established under the NWT Council of Leaders, especially Article 37 that states treaties and agreements must be respected, recognized, observed, and enforced;
• Continuing to work collaboratively on procurement to develop an approach that reflects the interests of all parties and recognizes the need to ensure the implementation of modern treaty obligations;
• Identifying opportunities for social and economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic impact and due to the decrease in industry activity in the resource sector; and
• Creating opportunities for joint engagement with the federal government.

The leaders also signed the Modern Treaty and Self-Government Partners Forum Founding Agreement to formally establish the Forum, an example of what reconciliation should look like between governments. It provides the five Modern Treaty partners and the Government of the Northwest Territories an opportunity to discuss matters of mutual concern and work collaboratively to improve the ongoing implementation of land claims and self-government agreements.