Norman Yakeleya

Not at this time, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Can the Minister outline the process, with measurable outcomes, that will be used to ensure that water sources are safe to drink?

Can the Minister provide a departmental work plan that will guide this government to build and implement safe drinking water sources in our communities?

Can the Minister provide a strategic plan on how the community of Fort Good Hope can be involved in developing new water sources for the community?

Thank you.

I understand that it is a federal government responsibility and a huge chunk of that cost is on the federal government’s hands. I want to ask the Minister here, for these 10 communities without RCMP officers, we are going to look at projects such as the Deh Cho Bridge and we’re looking at putting additional dollars to that project. Why not to the communities without RCMP officers such as Tsiigehtchic, Nahanni, Wrigley, Kakisa, Colville? People are more important than steel and metal. I want to ask the Minister if he would go to his colleagues and say let’s put an RCMP detachment in those...

There’s an author that’s renowned for her work with death and cancer, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, and she talks about dealing with grief, and the general normal grief process takes about two years for the person to go through the whole grief cycle. Of course, with our Aboriginal people we have our own cultural grief ceremonies.

I wanted to ask the Minister, because there are so many deaths in Fort Good Hope, is there any way that his department can find a dedicated person to come to Fort Good Hope, stay in Fort Good Hope, and deal with the hundreds of people that are affected by one cancer death or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to add my comments to Mr. Bromley’s to recognize Patrick. Whenever we get to Ulukhaktok, he has always been there. Welcome to the kids from Ulukhaktok. You have a very beautiful community.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a few comments to the infrastructure for the Department of Education. I wanted to ask the department, when they are doing their capital planning or their needs assessment, if the community of Colville Lake is in line anywhere in the needs assessment for a new learning centre.

They are operating out of an older unit. They have some pretty good success by having a person in there working with the community and the older people. I think that it’s about time that this community be looked at as a community where a learning centre can be brought in and...

Madam Chair, they’re going to install a sewer tank. They’re doing it during the winter and it’s cold. You know, it’s difficult. It’s going to cost probably more; I’m not too sure. They had all summer to do it. I don’t know what as part of the deferred maintenance or what happened. The community has been trying to work with this government for a long time. It’s been years. I find it hard for the Minister to say we’re trying to work with the community to get this in our community, especially at the school so those 53 kids that have to go through this system. There are only two honey buckets in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to get back to my question with the Minister of Health and Social Services on the cancer in Fort Good Hope. The Minister gave us some numbers, and according to those numbers cancer in Good Hope is pretty high; 20 percent higher than my numbers here than in the rest of the territory, such as colorectal cancer is 24 percent in Good Hope while the territory is 20, breast cancer is 17 in Good Hope and in the territory it’s 16, prostate cancer is 9 percent in the territory, and so forth.

I want to ask the Minister is his department willing to look at any type of...

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...