Jackson Lafferty

We have new, I guess, southern institutions that the department is planning to work with. At the same time, given the amount of time that individuals can apply to go to southern institutions there is a waitlist at Poundmaker's of up to six months. If we had that here in the Northwest Territories, utilizing our own people, our elders, our healers, on-the-land program, it would go a long way. The next question I have for the Minister is: since there is no option to consider Northwest Territories residential healing centres here in the Northwest Territories, to what extent has the Indigenous...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I made a statement regarding a treatment centre, so I would like to ask Health and Social Services a question. [Translation ends] The Minister of the Health and Social Services department promised to consider [microphone turned off] ...treatment in the territory and followed by mental health and addiction recovery action plan. Mr. Speaker, the TRC's 94 recommendations, number 21, states that: we call upon federal government to provide sustainable funding for Aboriginal healing centres to address physical, mental, emotional, spiritual harms caused by...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] We have a motion in front of us today. Sometimes it is very difficult to speak on a motion, and it is to remove one MLA. It is a very difficult decision to make, but we do represent the people of the Northwest Territories. We have to make decisions on what they think, as well. Today, I am going to speak on this motion. A lot of people don't know the background information. A lot has been asked as to what has been happening here. Regarding the government and Ministers, I am going to speak on some of these issues. Mr. Speaker, we are live, so I would like to say...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the Minister is new to the file. I'm glad she's going to follow through. That agreement was before she came on board, so I'm glad she is going to be monitoring this. The last question I have is: can I get a commitment from the Minister that she and/or her senior staff, departmental staff, visit the Tlicho All-season Road construction site and meet with the Tlicho workers to simply hear them out and follow through with their concerns, Mr. Speaker? Masi.

I am glad that the Minister is committed to monitoring the progress that is happening there. That's my next line of questions here. We are fortunate to be living in the North. It's small enough that we run into our constituents, or people, who actually work at the TASR site, Tlicho All-Season Road. I was yet again, Mr. Speaker, informed by one of the current workers yesterday that southern hires keep increasing, and friends and relatives of Southerners get on heavy equipment faster than my own Tlicho people working there. Even those guys, my Tlicho workers, have been waiting for a number of...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I would like to send out a huge congratulations to grads in the Tlicho region, some of them have graduated. There are quite a number of people who have graduated in my community. They will be on their way to post-secondary. Also, for post-secondary, there were quite a number of students who have graduated from post-secondary education. I am very thankful for that [translation ends].

Congratulations to my Tlicho high school graduates and, also, the post-secondary graduates class of 2020. We are very proud of their accomplishments, especially during the whole...

I'd like to thank the Minister for her follow-up on this, because, again, this is coming from my constituents, so there are more detailed questions being asked of me to the Minister. My Tlicho workers, who are approximately, as the Minister indicated, 24 out of 70, or according to the workers there it's around a hundred or coming to a hundred, so it's a small number that we have there, who have years of experience as heavy equipment operators through their diamond mines experience, but they are not given the same treatment as Southerners wishing to advance. Could I have the Minister's...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Mr. Speaker, about the new road to Whati, I would like to ask questions to the ITI Minister [translation ends].

I have additional questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Some questions may be for more detailed information, which the Minister may not have at hand, but this is coming directly from my constituents. It's their words, Mr. Speaker. What is the current status on the Tlicho All-Season Road project? More specifically, to the northern, southern, and Tlicho hires. Last time I asked the Minister, southern hires were 50-percent-plus. Masi, Mr. Speaker...

The next line of questions is pertaining to enforcement. As you know, a lot of our communities, 10-plus communities, do not have RCMP detachments, so what is the process where an elder or a senior is being verbally or physically abused, especially in communities that do not have an RCMP detachment? What is the process?

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I spoke earlier in my Member's statement about the seniors and what kind of a program is there. We have been thinking about it. That is why I want to ask the Minister for seniors about what kind of a program is there for seniors. [Translation ends]

[Microphone turned off] ...month. I have some questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. The first question I have is: what kind of programs exist for our elders' or seniors' care, more specifically in the area of verbal and physical abuse here in the Northwest Territories? Masi, Mr. Speaker.