Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Madam Chair. My comments would reflect around the Mackenzie Valley winter road, and the airports in my community, and some of the support equipment that needs to be looked at within the Department of Transportation to support the operations of our small airports and our winter road.

I want to thank the department at this time for their flexibility and support in the construction, the final steps of the Colville Lake new airport. The people there are very happy that the department was opening up to have most of the people and their equipment in Colville Lake working on the airport. It...

Thank you. I trust the Minister will work hard on behalf of the people in Colville Lake and the people without RCMP detachments who are looking to you for that type of support. Will the Minister work with his officials to look at increasing the patrols to the communities such as Colville Lake and bump up the security safety mechanisms so that the people know that they can sleep in peace?

I look forward to the information coming forth from the Minister. I want to ask the Minister, in his role as the lead Minister for the security and safety of the people, has his department put together a long-term strategic plan and put RCMP detachments in the 10 communities who do not have one today?

I certainly look forward to that trip with the Minister. One of the speakers in my meeting said living in Fort Good Hope is stressful and scary. You don’t know if your number’s next and you’re going to be the one told that you have cancer. It’s very tragic and painful to listen to young people sit in front of you and cry and say my mom or my dad has cancer. I know they’re not going to live long and they’re going to die.

I’m asking the Minister if he will start plans or look at plans to have somebody come into Fort Good Hope and sit with the living members of someone who has died of cancer or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke in my Member’s statement that in my meeting with the people in Fort Good Hope all of the speakers talked about the number of cancer-related diagnosed community members and the different sources that possibly cancer could be coming from. The most heartbreaking comments were from young people in the communities on the ones who are the surviving members of cancer. So I wanted to ask the Minister what type of support can be given to the people in Fort Good Hope or the family members who have to deal with the loss of their loved ones due to the number of recent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I did my constituency visits in the Sahtu at the end of November, the community that I went to was Fort Good Hope. During my constituency meetings with the people in Fort Good Hope, a lot of speakers in my constituency spoke on the increase of cancer in that community. The people were saying that they’re very afraid. It’s very stressful for them. They’re very worried that they may be the next one diagnosed with cancer. People are being diagnosed on a monthly basis. They are very concerned with what is going on, with what is happening. There are some very healthy...

It would have made a difference this year if they had sewage tanks going into the Colville Lake School. I am telling you right now, if the Minister and staff went to Colville Lake, they have the sewer truck there. It is pumping out sewer in the bed and breakfast and pumping out of the band office and it is being used. For the Minister’s statement that it wouldn’t matter, I think that is a real kind of attitude to say to our community in Colville Lake it wouldn’t matter. It would have mattered, because the sewer truck now is being used in Colville Lake. They have a garage and they are using it...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to ask the Minister under the department if he could provide to me a briefing. It could be in a document, or I know I heard Mr. Guy talk about it earlier, on the situation in Colville Lake with their honey bucket matter there at the school and also at the health centre. I know the kids, 53 of them have to wait another year to use a facility that has running water in there. I’m really disappointed that it will take another year for this department to put in a proper facility in the school, and also they can look at that at the health centre too.

There is a sewer...

I just about choked in here. I didn’t know what to say. The Minister said yes right away.

I want to ask the Minister how soon he can work with us to get a research institution into Fort Good Hope to start the process of elimination of the types of cancer that are causing so much grief in the community of Radili Ko?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people in Fort Good Hope have asked me why they have to yell so loud for help. Recognizing there are a lot of cancer deaths in the Northwest Territories, my people in Fort Good Hope in the last month have three more who have been diagnosed with cancer. That’s three more families that are affected right now. They are asking for help. Why do they have to yell so loud to this government to say bring somebody in? Let them work with the families. Let them work with the young ones. Let them understand what death and dying is all about and how hard it’s going to be for...