Michael Nadli

Members in the Housing Corporation have often talked about training and employing local community-based skill workers to deal with day-to-day repairs and maintenance of public housing stock. What is the department currently doing to make this a reality in every community with public housing?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, I'd like to welcome my colleagues back to the House and acknowledge my constituents, whether they're watching from home, listening on the radio, or sitting in the gallery.

Now, Mr. Speaker this is a short sitting, but there's a lot of work to do, so I'll get down to business. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation operates more than 2,400 public housing units in 30 communities. With our small population, think about just how many families those units serve.

Now, when you're in market housing, it might seem that something always goes wrong on Sundays or...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 1998, when I was the Grand Chief of the Dehcho First Nations, UN Rapporteur, Miguel Alfonso Martinez of the University of Cuba, visited the Deh Cho and the Hay River Reserve as a representative of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which was a sub-commission of the UN Commission on Human Rights. The purpose of this visit was for the Rapporteur to take a look at Canada's treatment of its Indigenous peoples and gather evidence on the status of the Dehcho First Nations' self-government proposal, the Deh Cho...

For people that follow First Nations history and the evolution of land claims and negotiations of lands and resources, the incident at Ipperwash opened up everybody's eyes that these long-standing lands and resource negotiations have been far too long and that there has to be an agreement that is just and fair for First Nations in terms of having a role in the Canadian society. The MSR report is complete. What are the possibilities that the Minister is considering and different approaches to help speed up negotiations?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. In my statement, I made reference to the UN Rapporteur visiting the Deh Cho and, shortly after that, there was a measure that all parties agreed to the appointment of Peter Russell, and he helped bridge the mediation and facilitation of a dialogue that became part of the Common Ground Principles, in terms of trying to bridge the log jam that existed then. The Common Ground Principles, which the GNWT was part of, identifies the fundamentals that the parties understand...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Moving forward, can the Minister inform this House as to what he thinks could be accomplished by May 2017? Mahsi.

I think I saw the Minister wink, so there is a possibility. It's encouraging. Treaties as far back as the Royal Proclamation of 1763 were bilateral in nature between the First Nations and the Crown. Will the GNWT accept the lead role of Canada in the negotiations of lands and resources?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is directed mostly to the Minister, and an opportunity for her to express, perhaps, in her wise wisdom in terms of any advice that she can offer these students to move the concept of a youth centre into reality. Mahsi.

I'd like to thank the Minister for her commitment in terms of offering this staff member from another community to work with these local budding leaders. Apart from that, what other youth programs might stakeholders explore to access funds or other support for their youth centre vision?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, students in the Northern Community Leadership Program at the Aurora College Community Learning Centre in Fort Providence have taken on an interesting new project.

The Introduction to Leadership course was jointly developed by Aurora College and the NWT Literacy Council, and is being piloted this year in six communities across the territory, including Fort Providence. Students learn how to better engage with their communities, and then build on that knowledge to develop leadership skills and practices. The six-week course helps students to foster leadership...