The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, Nov. 12, edition that the Northwest Territories seeks to empower northerners, not Ottawa, in decisions about drilling in the Beaufort Sea, which is thought to contain significant oil and gas. The Post's James Rose writes that Deputy Premier Caroline Wawzonek notes that last week's federal budget is the first indication in nearly a decade that Ottawa is listening. Budget 2026 sets aside $11-million over four years for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to support the governance and oversight of offshore oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean. A Finance Canada spokesman said that part of the money would go toward considering whether to lift a moratorium on new offshore licences in the Western Arctic, in place since 2016. Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back on that interpretation Tuesday. "It is absolutely not in any way, shape or form a decision about lifting the moratorium," he told reporters. He described the money as capacity funding for co-management with the Inuvialuit and northern governments. To Ms Wawzonek, her government's objection to the moratorium has always been about who makes the decision.