Michael Nadli

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In the NWT the number of people with breast cancer is in the hundreds. Of all NWT women diagnosed with cancer, over one-third have breast cancer. Nationwide, this type of cancer will affect about 11 percent of women during their lifetime.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation encourages everyone to practice breast awareness, to know how your breasts normally look and feel so that you notice any unusual changes early and discuss your concerns with your health care provider.

Over the past 20 years, survival rates have steadily improved...

I take that the Minister does, in fact, agree and support the idea of a potato farm.

With that, what is his department prepared to do to assist individuals or groups that want to grow products such as potatoes or even community gardens in their home community?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today our communities are struggling and challenged with the cost of living. Cost of living regarding the basic needs of food, shelter and, for the most part, is demoralizing in terms of the price. It saps people’s pride and longing for independence. The price of basics such as meat, fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits are way high. The goods are packaged and processed down south and either trucked or flown to communities. If you are fortunate and are one of 50 percent of the people that work in communities, you can buy groceries locally. If you live in public housing...

Why can’t we make this work? This is a very practical, doable idea, and what is stopping this Minister and this Cabinet and this government of addressing a very practical need in communities? These are ideas that come from people in the communities. They know. If it was a person from the average community, you would want to know. Why can’t this be done now?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to talk about a dream that I always had, and one day that dream will become a reality. That dream is the idea of a potato farm. We can make it happen. I’d like to pose a question to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

I want to know how responsive the Minister and this Cabinet and this government is to people out in the communities, because when you travel into the communities, people know some of the solutions to the problems that we face and the challenges that we have to meet every day that we live in communities.

The potato, of course, people know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will give the Minister a last chance.

Does he agree and support the idea of a potato farm in Fort Providence? Yes or no.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister had indicated that yes, indeed, that businesses that operate in the NWT must have a business licence. We’ve seen when communities pop up over the course of the end of May going into June, we have villages out there and it was perhaps almost like the Wild West.

Can the Minister assure this House that potentially people who come up from down south, they will be checked and officials from departments will be on site to ensure people are operating legally in the NWT by showing their business licence? Mahsi.

Is the Minister willing to make an effort to engage Aboriginal governments and other organizations in supporting local mushroom harvests?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories has an opportunity to cater to the world. Morel mushrooms that fetch hundreds of dollars on the international markets thrive in areas burned by forest fires and attract harvesters from far and wide.

It was encouraging to see residents tap into the local resource this summer and finally the government step up with some response. ITI held workshops and orientation meetings in the Deh Cho this past spring, including walking workshops where participants go out in the field and learn the steps involved in harvesting morels, from locating the species to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will not be supporting this motion, simply because this is an infrastructure project. I think recently we have had a shift toward and trying to enhance and renovate the Stanton Territorial Hospital, so it’s another large capital project that will be directed towards Yellowknife.

The other point that I wanted to make is, in the regional centres and community centres that we live in, there has been almost a shift away from the board that existed in the regions and communities so that people could have a voice. For cost efficiency, that is still under review and there is...