Indigenous leaders and leaders from the GNWT gathered for the Northwest Territories Council of Leaders (NWTCOL) meeting on June 13 and 14, 2023 in Yellowknife.
Leaders discussed a range of NWT-wide issues of mutual interest related to social and economic issues, including:
• Health in the NWT including the federally announced Indigenous Health Equity fund and collaboration to ensure it is maximized for Indigenous Northerners, and challenges with the federal funding of Non-Insured Health Benefits
• Mental Health and Addictions and prevention and mitigation of illegal drugs and collaboration to address these issues;
• Development of the NWT Housing Forum;
• Caribou Management issues;
• Climate Change;
• Economy and Cost of Living; and
• Arctic and Northern Policy Framework
The NWTCOL forum offers members the opportunity to discuss territory-wide social, environmental, and economic issues that are of interest to all member governments and work towards solutions.
The NWTCOL continues to be a productive forum and an example of meaningful partnership between the Indigenous and GNWT leaders, consistent with the principles of reconciliation.
The meeting was chaired by Ɂekw’ahtı̨dǝ́Danny Gaudet of Délı̨nę Got’ı̨nę Government.
