Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Speaker, several years ago Imperial Oil was found guilty by Environment Canada for water quality for dumping chemicals in the Mackenzie River. They paid a fine. I think it was a slap on the wrist for them for about $195,000 because of their conviction of dumping chemicals in the Mackenzie River. I want to ask the Minister on the water quality lab, is that something that this government is looking at in the future, putting another lab in the Northwest Territories along the Mackenzie River, more specifically somewhere in the Norman Wells or Fort Good Hope area?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to ask questions to the Minister of ENR on the water quality monitoring that could be and should be happening in the Northwest Territories, more specifically working towards another lab in the Northwest Territories. There is one in Yellowknife. I would like to see another one, preferably in the Sahtu where there is going to be a lot of oil and gas development. We need to look at ensuring that people do have safe quality water and that they know what is coming down the Mackenzie River from the tar sands or the pulp mills. Can the Minister answer that question?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The motion here that’s brought to the table to delete from Transportation puts the project in jeopardy. The timing is not great. The work that needs to get done for this year and next year to help us to continue this major… This is a major milestone for the Northwest Territories. We’ve been at this road for so many years. Finally the federal government has coughed up $150 million. The people in Tuktoyaktuk, the people in Inuvik went down to Ottawa and lobbied hard, schmoozing the Prime Minister, Cabinet Members to a point where the federal Cabinet said this is a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have one question to the Premier. The Premier has indicated in the past week the amount of money that the Northwest Territories is losing each day. I want to ask the Premier if he could be a little more specific on the amount and where that amount is coming from. Is it coming from the royalties? Is it coming from the Norman Wells field? Where did he get this number from?

I do apologize for not being specific. The concern came from my riding and all this concern was that before any tags go to any of the outfitters, that tags for caribou go to the resident hunters so they can feed their families. That’s the question I asked of the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have said in my Member’s statement that several elders in 1979, Chief Paul Wright and Chief George Kodakin said in the public meeting that one day we are going to put our nets in the water and when we lift the nets, there are either going to be no fish in there or there are going to be fish in there that will be sick and dying and no one will want to eat them. That is the prophecy they said to us in 1979. This is why I bring this issue up of water quality monitoring in the Sahtu along the Mackenzie River. We need to know.

How soon would the Minister be able to tell us...

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for outlining all such work that this government is doing to deal with the water issue. I want to ask any thoughts on what they can do for the people of Fort Good Hope. That would be appreciated by the people there. What baseline water quality information is currently being collected now in the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I start my Member’s statement I want to say Happy Valentine’s Day to all of the people out there. Have a heart on this side here.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say the issue that I want to bring up today. Mr. Menicoche, in a statement, talked a little bit about the fish in the Northwest Territories. We are starting to see some chemicals and metals in the fish and we are warning people about eating fish in our wonderful land. People around Great Slave Lake, Hay River, Fort Resolution, Providence, all the way up the Mackenzie River right to Tuktoyaktuk depend on the water...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The funding that we’re going to be debating has to do a lot with the timing of the supp for the infrastructure. I have not heard one member in our community say they oppose the highway, the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We all actually support it. It’s the way that the funding is coming about to continue the work, as Mr. Ramsay has indicated, for the people of the Northwest Territories.

Also, the federal government has signalled this project as a priority through their budget. They’re saying we have $150 million and we’re starting to understand that it’s a 25/75 partnership...

Mr. Miltenberger talked about the sequencing and that it will go through a process for any caribou tags that are going to be going out to the people. First we looked at the Aboriginal hunters, trappers, then northern residents and then possibly to the outfitters if there is enough healthy caribou for the taking. Is that the sequencing as I understand it so that I can tell my people this is how it will be played out?