The GNWT is committed to building and maintaining mutually respectful relationships with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations. Productive and effective intergovernmental relationships promote greater collaboration and cooperation on common goals and priorities.

This section describes ways that the Project fosters positive working relationships through intergovernmental cooperation agreements and the commitment to undertaking appropriate Aboriginal Consultation.

Memorandum of Understanding 

The GNWT is committed to working with the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated (SSI) to advance the Mackenzie Valley Highway (MVH) Project. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the advancement of the project through the environmental assessment and regulatory review processes was signed by the GNWT and SSI April of 2019.

An amended and restated MOU was signed in July 2024 between the same parties as a testament to the continued collaboration and dedication to strengthening our working relationship and commitment to advancing the Project.

You can read the MOU here.

Consultation

The GNWT has a legal duty to consult and accommodate Aboriginal governments and organizations whenever it considers carrying out a government action that has the potential to adversely affect asserted or established Aboriginal or Treaty rights. This duty to consult is a constitutional obligation that is rooted in Section 35 of the . 

Additional information on GNWT’s legal duty to consult with Aboriginal governments can be found on the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs website.

Consultation on the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project is ongoing.

Traditional Knowledge studies

Traditional Knowledge is Indigenous peoples’ collective body of knowledge and understanding of a particular natural and cultural environment, accumulated and transmitted through generations of living ‘on the land’ within a traditional territory or land use area. The concept denotes a holistic perspective encompassing many aspects of a people’s worldview and traditional ways of living. The knowledge is comprised of, but not limited to, knowledge about the environment, including its use and management; values about the environment; and knowledge about traditional social, cultural, and socio-economic phenomena, both past and current.

The GNWT has provided funding to Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, and renewable resources councils to complete Traditional Land and Resource Use studies for the Project. Once collected, traditional knowledge is reviewed and incorporated where possible into the Project design.