Bill C-27 Receives Royal Assent, Making the Norman Wells Self-Government Treaty Law in Canada
In Ottawa, Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty announced on October 8 that Bill C-27 has received Royal Assent, giving legal force to the Final Self-Government Agreement for the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got'įnę. It becomes another Indigenous self-government arrangement confirmed as a treaty in Canada.
The agreement recognizes the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got'įnę Government as the government of the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells, in the Northwest Territories. Norman Wells, on the Mackenzie River, is one of five Indigenous communities in the Sahtu Region.
The agreement took about 20 years to negotiate. It was signed on September 18, 2025 and ratified by the community on March 31, 2025. Bill C-27 passed third reading in the Senate and received Royal Assent the same day, becoming Chapter 23 of the Statutes of Canada, 2026. The agreement takes effect on a date set by Order in Council.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada says self-government agreements place local governing authority in the hands of the community's own government, as a practical expression of Canada's nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous peoples.
Source: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 西北地区马更些河畔的 Norman Wells 镇。/ Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, on the Mackenzie River. (Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
