Thanks Racmar, this is part of the new federal government approach to de-centralization and empowering the periphery, which will inevitably lead to some variation in policy and practice in different areas but will be more flexible in responding to local interests and needs.

Another part of this decentralizing approach is the empowering of native groups, which has led to all kinds of problems, including hunger strikes and demonstrations and the interruption of free commerce by natives in certain parts of the country over the past few weeks in protest against an omnibus bill passed recently which removed federal oversight from environmental issues and other things. It has become clear that these provisions were a response to an agreement between the feds and a national native group, the Assembly of First Nations, in 2012, who wanted this decentralization and empowerment to release native bands and local communities to negotiate directly with companies planning resource projects. The protests have now cooled off, but these are more an internal problem for natives than for the federal government, and the feds are acting accordingly with a hands-off approach which is good.

Some native bands have poor management, money disappears and the communities are sometimes left with no services and no funding. The government along with native groups at some point will likely have to deal with this, but this is a very sensitive area at the moment. But most native bands are quite entrepreneurial and progressive, and want nothing to do with the protests, preferring to deal directly with resource companies, who improve the economics of their bands and reservations quite substantially. These of course are the quiet ones, but their influence cannot be ignored.

The Yellowknife Dene are one of the latter groups, who recognize that responsible companies like Tyhee are potentially substantial contributors to their community economics and lifestyle while preserving their indigenous culture. Ike