Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can I seek unanimous consent of yourself and the Members to return to item 5?

---Unanimous consent granted

Certainly, that raises our hopes in the region. I want to ask the Minister, has he been working with his other colleagues with regards to bringing in some much needed skill development, trade development, in regards to, for example, the Selwyn-Chihong Mine operations, bringing in some type of trades program with the Mine Training Society to look at how do we tap into these young resources of workers in the Sahtu region to increase our viability to be in the mine and not have situations where we see where we fly in miners to take the jobs from our Sahtu people, our northern people?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI. I talked about the potential in the Sahtu region with our human resources, our people and with the resources in our lands.

I want to ask the Minister, has he had an opportunity to look at the opportunities of the economic potential in the Sahtu region with our people in our lands? Does he have a quick snapshot picture of what’s there?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to make it right to the point here. I want to thank the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre for seconding this motion.

This motion is to let the government know that there is a huge hole in our Medical Travel Policy. The Minister indicated, through his press release with the staff, that there is a policy that needs to be looked at. As a matter of fact, the Minister has stated, February 7, 2014, from Hansard, and I’m asking him questions: “We have a Medical Travel Policy. We want to have a Medical Travel Policy that is hassle-free for all our patients.”...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a motion. WHEREAS the Office of the Auditor General, in its 2011 report to the Government of the Northwest Territories, clearly indicated that the Medical Travel Policy is inconsistently applied;

AND WHEREAS the Office of the Auditor General, in its 2011 report to the Government of the Northwest Territories, clearly indicated that there is no sound mechanism in place for monitoring and evaluating the Medical Travel Policy;

AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has had more than four years to respond to the Auditor General’s report;

AND WHEREAS...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the Report of the Special Committee on Transition Matters, “Passing the Mace: Recommendations to the 18th Legislative Assembly,” dated October 2015.

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Committee Report 24-17(5), be received and adopted by this Assembly.

I am honoured to stand here today to congratulate and recognize Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred and Lucy Jackson. Mrs. Lucy Jackson was the recipient of the first Order of the Northwest Territories, and accompanying her is her good, full-time, wonderful husband, Wilfred Jackson. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to just ask the Minister about the traditional economy. Now, that’s the backbone of our people. It was a way of life until we started to look at the European value of exchange. The economy is still strong. Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope have the best fur harvesters in the Northwest Territories.

I want to ask the Minister, is his department working with the trappers in the region, specifically around Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake, in regards to seeing that this tradition is continued to be passed on to the younger generation? The best furs, I may say humbly...

Thank you. The Minister clearly laid out the amazing potential we have in the Sahtu. I want to ask the Minister, has he and his officials looked at one area that he hadn’t mentioned today, which is the Selwyn-Chihong Mine that’s at the Yukon/Northwest Territories border? I understand this mine is going to go into production. There’s close to $1 billion worth of work there, potentially with 850 workers during the construction phase and around 450 permanent workers to operate that mine.

Has the Minister looked at how we can match the young potential workers in the Sahtu with this upcoming mine...