Ask Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) Grand Chief Andy Carvill if the Education Reform Project is still an equal partnership with the territorial government and he smiles.

'I'm not saying I'm overly happy with it. Like any kind of relationship we've got some fine tuning,' said Carvill.

Carvill said he doesn't want to see the Education Reform Project go down the same road as the Children's Act review.

The CYFN briefly pulled out of its partnership with the Yukon government in 2006 during the review process when it was felt first nations were not being fully consulted.

'I'm hoping that we don't need to opt out of it,' he said of the reform project. 'I'm hoping that's not going to be there if I can sit down with the premier and have a face-to-face discussion with him.'

The $1.5-million Education Reform Project is a two-year initiative announced in August 2005.

A joint project between the CYFN and the territorial government, it is aimed at addressing the gap between first nation and non-first nation student success in education.

But late last month, CYFN's co-chair, Ed Schultz, resigned from the project and has not yet been replaced.

Schultz's resignation came without explanation but occurred the same day the project was to return to the communities for another round of consultations.

The co-chairs of education reform were directed by the project's executive committee to redo their community consultations in a March 16 letter, despite having extensively met with stakeholders between October 2005 and November 2006.

They provided cabinet with a submission including position papers and recommendations last year.

None of this information has been allowed to be publicly released.

Rouble has stated it is inappropriate to provide recommendations before all stakeholders are consulted and public input is taken into consideration.

Carvill, however, said he believes the communities should be seeing some type of feedback from the first round of consultations.

'They've gone around to the communities, they received feedback from the communities,' he said. 'This round of consultations they maybe should be looking at delivering some of that information to the public.'

Chief Joe Linklater, chair of the chiefs committee on education, has told the Star the reform project sent back to work because there were some concerns from cabinet about governance and how it would affect the Department of Education.

The Vuntut Gwitchin leader added the co-chairs' work had provided a strong emphasis on governance and the executive committee wanted them to go back and provide a broader understanding of education reform options.

The Education Reform Project comes in the wake of at least three first nations, Kwanlin Dun, Na Cho Nyak Dun and Little Salmon-Carmacks, beginning the process of drawing down education as allowed in Section 17 of most self-government agreements.

Some first nations do want to draw down education, said Linklater. Others want more information on how the government intends to address the education system.

But if partnerships aren't established, there are first nations that feel the only option is to draw down education, he said.

Premier Dennis Fentie, however, has stated the discussion of governance is not on the table for the Education Reform Project.

'This isn't about power. This is about jurisdictional authority - decision-making,' Fentie again told reporters yesterday. 'We take the position that the only way you can share authority is to devolve jurisdiction.

'We aren't into co-governance or devolving jurisdiction. We're into co-operative governance, having two jurisdictions co-operate and collaborate on issues that are important to the Yukon citizenry.'

Chief Liard McMillan of Watson Lake's Liard First Nation, is now stating Fentie is being premature by making the decision to refuse to let Yukoners consider governance as an option.

'Governance may prove to be a possible solution to our programs,' McMillan stated in a press release late this morning. 'We may find important solutions to deficiencies in the public education system that are related to how that system is managed and governed. We have a responsibility to explore all possibilities for a better public education system.'

If first nations want a higher level of decision making in education they can draw the system down, said Fentie.

The government, he said, is committed to providing a public education system and will not host discussions that would dilute that.

'Premier Fentie should not be taking a position on anything the Education Reform Project is considering until their work is finished and the public is informed,' said McMillan. 'The public needs to know about and consider all possible solutions.'

Carvill said he hears the premier using the words 'co-operative governance' but thinks the two levels of government are interpreting its meaning differently.

'It's going to continue to take some fine tuning with respects to exactly what the two sides mean or what our understanding of co-operative governance is,' he said. 'We are talking co-operative governance, but jurisdiction around public education is not on. The premier is against sharing the administration of public jurisdiction.'

First nations have come to the table for the reform project in 'good faith,' said Carvill. 'I won't comment that I'm over joyed with any type of relationship.

'We've got a ways to go on both sides with respects to maintaining and ensuring the relationship is going to be conducive with respect to getting our needs meet.'

Rouble, Linklater and McMillan make up the executive committee of the Education Reform Project.