Final Self-Government Agreement for the Tlegohli Got’ine Act

This bill brings into force a self-government agreement negotiated between the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę (a Sahtu Dene and Metis community in the Northwest Territories), the Government of Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories. It formally approves the Final Self-Government Agreement and gives it legal force as a treaty under the Constitution, meaning it takes priority over most other federal laws if there's ever a conflict (though the earlier Sahtu land claim agreement still takes priority over this new one). It also gives legal effect to a related tax treatment agreement covering the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę government.

Practically, this creates a recognized Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government with the legal powers of a corporation, able to make its own laws, which will have the force of law within its jurisdiction. Once this happens, the Indian Act will no longer apply to this government or its citizens. The bill sets out how courts and tribunals interact with this new government, including giving the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories exclusive authority to review its decisions, and requiring advance notice to relevant governments when legal disputes touch on interpretation of the agreement.

The bill also makes a series of consequential amendments to other federal laws — including the Access to Information Act, Privacy Act, Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, and the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act — to formally recognize the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government alongside other Indigenous governments already named in those laws (such as the Tlicho and Déline governments). These changes give the new government roles in resource management decisions, consultation rights, and taxation over its settlement lands, largely mirroring arrangements already in place for neighbouring self-governing Indigenous nations in the region. Most provisions take effect on a date set later by the federal cabinet, once conditions in the agreement itself are met.

This bill gives legal force to the Final Self-Government Agreement for the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę, creating a Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government with law-making authority and amending several federal statutes to accommodate it.

• New government body — the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government is established as a legal entity with "the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of a natural person," able to make laws that have "the force of law" once enacted under the Agreement.
• Displacement of federal law — the Indian Act ceases to apply to the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government or its citizens, and where any other federal law conflicts with the Agreement, the Agreement "prevails to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict" (subject to the Sahtu Dene and Metis agreement taking priority over both).
• Regulatory and resource powers — under amendments to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government can issue binding policy directions to the Sahtu Land and Water Board and a review board, must be consulted before licences or permits affecting its settlement lands are issued, and can require its own permits for land uses even where federal regulations do not.
• Taxation authority — the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government is added as a recognized "taxing authority" under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act and gains standing under the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act, allowing it to levy real property, frontage or area taxes on its lands.
• Court and information status — the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government and its institutions are excluded from being "federal boards, commissions or other tribunals" under the Federal Courts Act, with judicial review instead routed exclusively to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories once internal appeal mechanisms are exhausted; it is also added as a body covered by the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.
• Discretionary implementation power — the Governor in Council (Cabinet) may make "any orders and regulations" it "considers necessary" to carry out the Agreement, including setting the Effective Date and Transition Date, with no further limits specified in the text; coming into force of most provisions is likewise left to be fixed by future order of the Governor in Council rather than a set date.