Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker…(Translation not provided)

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Recently we have just come to our new job, and sometimes when we have to make implementation of that land, we want to work really well with the territorial government and also with the federal government. Many elders have mentioned this in the past and this is true. When we look at it, when we talk about this and we talk about the long-term vision, we have to look at how we are going to work with each other, how we are going to work with people in the community, especially for people that are still negotiating their land claims and self-government.

When you...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The chiefs in the Tlicho Government recently requested that early childhood programs previously run by First Nations government be turned over to an agency that runs early childhood programs and has highlighted responsibilities for the region. This is a good decision. It reduces duplication, facilitates integration and improves efficiency. However, Mr. Speaker, the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Government of the Northwest Territories have erected barriers to such arrangements with recent requirements that all agency employees, with the exception of our...

Mr. Speaker, I can do it in English if you want.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Today, first of all, we have one Page who’s from Whati. That’s Page Sarah Coey-Simpson from Whati. She’s going to be working here until Friday. The girl is attending Whati school and is in Grade 8. How she was selected is the principal, Bill Hurley, selected her as a Page. She was there as a role model for the students in that school, which is why she was selected. I wanted to thank her parents on her behalf.

Also, I was talking about the celebration in Behchoko in the Tlicho Nation. We have leadership from the Tlicho Government, and I would like to introduce...

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In the short time that I have been a Member of this Assembly -- it has been two or three months -- there have been significant activities happening in the community.

This summer, on June 13th, there was an election for the Tlicho chiefs. The chiefs that have been elected -- some of them are here -- are Chief Leon Lafferty from Behchoko/Rae, Chief Charlie Jim Nitsiza from Whati, Chief Henry Gon from Gameti and also Chief Charlie Football from Wekweeti/Snare Lake. These are the four chiefs that have been elected.

On August 4th, we had a big celebration in Rae...