Jackie Jacobson

Mr. Speaker, today I spoke about the Aboriginal Sport Circle and all the good work that they’ve been doing. I’d like to follow up with some questions to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

I spoke about the need to recognize and provide similar levels of support for the Aboriginal Sport Circle. Can the Minister tell me what kind of funding arrangement is currently in place for the sport circle?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a youngster growing up, I played all kinds of sports: hockey, soccer. Now I coach. Sport is a big part of my life. Now I’m a stick boy for my two sons, Matthew and Mitchell, which I enjoy.

Today I would like to recognize what I call the new Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Western Arctic. Since the sport circle started, it struggled as a new sport organization, never really receiving the same level of support and recognition of the other non-government sport and recreation associations. However, with new staff members Jan Larsson and Greg Hopf, the sport...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question. The department of ENR should really do something before these whales become Species at Risk and my people cannot hunt these. I look forward to working with the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Minister of ENR. The last two years we had beluga whales stuck in Husky Lake, just east of Tuk. Can the Minister advise me what the department will do this summer to try to stop them from entering the lake and help avoid their suffering?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that, Mr. Minister. I’m here for you. We must have lost about 300 to 400 beluga whales. Just hearing that the Minister has already committed to me in regard to working with me, I’d take that as a yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I listened to the Prime Minister’s apology to residential school survivors. I wanted to speak about the historic announcement but felt I needed a few days to digest the statement so I could properly address it on behalf of my family and Nunakput constituents.

Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues have talked about, this is a very tough day for a lot of people in my riding and in the ridings of Inuvik Twin Lakes, Inuvik Boot Lake, Mackenzie Delta, and even for the Member for Sahtu and the whole Northwest Territories. All our constituents have been affected...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just in regard to the petroleum products, it's good to hear that they're looking at the Over the Top route, which is a cheaper way of getting fossil fuels into our communities, such as diesel, which is really needed in the communities I represent in Nunakput. The cost of one community's private sector…. Three really rely on the PPD, the Petroleum Products Division, of the government.

I really worry for this winter in regard to the high cost of fuel in my communities. We don't have any alternative sources like we do here in the capital and in the southern parts of the...

That’s really good to hear. Would the department seriously consider re-establishing my court worker in the community of Tuktoyaktuk?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I spoke of impact of the proposed cuts to Community Justice committee funding. The elimination of a court worker position will affect the delivery of justice in my community of Tuktoyaktuk.

Can the Minister of Justice inform this Assembly on whether his department still has any focus on Justice activities at the community level?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve made it clear that I do not support the cuts in the Justice programs in my home community of Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, I know what happens in my community. I know the amount of work the court worker does for the people of Tuktoyaktuk every day. Unlike the bureaucrats in the courthouse, I don’t need the government report that tracks the number of applications received and processed to tell me what goes on at the community level. I’m sure it’s easy when they establish a person’s worth to the Justice system by the number of transactions they’re involved in.

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