Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories is gifted with artists whose talents reflect our culture and history. As pointed out in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Arts Strategy, art and artistic endeavours are important from a social, cultural, and economic perspective. The process of expression, and creation and production of art, celebrates, preserves and transmits culture. This appreciation and the benefits of the art is also shared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, of Canada.

The TRC believes that artists have a keen, profound contribution to make...

I want to ask the Minister to look at the overall recruitment in the boards and agencies and, again, look at our region as the efforts. We need to put strong directive efforts to our boards and regions to hire the people who are qualified, who can go through this program and go through some programs so that our people in the region, vis-à-vis Aboriginal people, can be in program manager positions or higher, other than just being a front desk receptionist or administrative assistant. That is not good with me in my region.

We need to have people who can do the job and who are qualified or can be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Department of Human Resources is going to come into a lot of challenges. Most that I’m looking at is when the Devolution Agreement is signed and we start of our implementation of the devolution chapters and the focus on the decentralization of the government.

I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources with regard to the potential number of people coming in from the federal government to the GNWT, and the number of employees that we would have now because of the Devolution Agreement, and the big picture plan when they come to the North and how are we going to look...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If resources are proven, there will be a road down the Mackenzie Valley.

I want to ask the Minister, will he commit to pulling in people into the Sahtu to have a community/regional meeting on the exploration that’s happening in the Sahtu so we get ready and start addressing all 11 recommendations from the previous meeting. I thank the Minister for that.

In front of me I have the two-page 11 recommendations. I want to ask Minister Ramsay, I met, also this morning, with one of the oil companies and they were talking about their upcoming activities. One of the key points of this activity taking off would be understanding the fracking that’s going to possibly happen in the Sahtu and the importance of the Sahtu people, along with the people of the Northwest Territories, getting ready. If fracking takes off, we need to get ready.

How soon can the Minister pull together a meeting in the Sahtu to look at the concept of fracking and what it’s going to...

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories, through the Liquor Commission, made about $46 million last year, 2011-12. That’s the money they made. They contribute about 3 percent of that to promotion of healthy style living and responsible drinking. Nats’ejee K’eh runs on a $2 million budget. The capacity rate is about 45 percent. That runs roughly about $14,800 per client to take a 28-day treatment program.

Has the Minister given some stern direction to the Department of Health and Social Services, saying that Nats’ejee K’eh needs to change its program so that people in my region...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Far too many people are hurt or killed every year in accidents related to alcohol abuse. About half of the drinkers in the Northwest Territories drink heavily, at least once a month. Heavy drinking often leads to dangerous behaviour. More than half the NWT population experiences harm from someone else’s drinking. In 2009 about one in four of those accidents were assaults. This is going on every year. Thousands of people are harmed due to somebody else’s drinking, even if they don’t drink themselves. Of course, many drinkers are harmed too.

Alcohol was a factor in 22...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This budget, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

---Laughter

It is the learning process of doing this budget here over the last nine years. The Minister has been quite steady and has been quite consistent with the message from government. I do want to, on a serious note, offer my condolences to him and his family. That is part of business in the government and continuing on doing what we have to do.

The process that we have entered into is doing our committee work, doing our consultation with the Minister, but the Minister also… I want to hear more about the Minister’s public...

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Please provide the actual cost to the Department of Health and Social Services of alcohol-related health conditions.

Please provide the success rate for individuals who have completed a 20-day program.

What specific measurements are used to determine the success rates for alcohol treatment programs?

The Minister is right; that’s the 46 million dollar question. How do we educate our people – with the high crime rates, high incident rates – to drink responsibility and have a healthy attitude towards alcohol? The Minister talked about this, and the Minister of Health is on a mission to look at this issue, hear the people of the Northwest Territories and come up with some creative ideas how to approach this business of alcohol.

Is the Minister working with the Minister of Health to take some of those ideas that possibly could help with the liquor store to educate our people, so in 10 or 20...