Norman Yakeleya

My colleague from Mackenzie Delta talked about increasing the home care workers in his communities, which I support. I think we also have a solution to help the Minister help this government saying if you can allow family members to live with their elders and take care of them, some of them are fragile – some of my own relatives – allow their family members to take care of them. That’s the way my culture has based its foundation on taking care of its elders. If not, they’re going to live alone, like somebody said in Colville Lake. There was an old man who died by himself. That put a lot of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. In our Aboriginal culture and beliefs it is a well-known fact that we take care of elders. Elders take care of the community, kind of watch over the community so that the community stays within the respect of the land, and the water and the animals. Over the years that role of elders has diminished somewhat. The basic fact is that elders are still being respected; they still need to be looked after. Over the years the policies of the GNWT have removed our elders and now they are in need of help.

I want to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I was going to do a Member’s statement on the school in Colville Lake and the health centre with their honey bucket system that they have there – it doesn’t smell too good – but I want to change that to what I just heard from the Minister of the Housing Corporation talk about: the moratorium on the arrears with the people in the Northwest Territories.

I think the Minister made a good statement. It’s Christmas and maybe that’s a gift to the people in the public housing units, that they have a huge present from the Government of the Northwest Territories for...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister has presented us, I guess, an eye opener in terms of what our needs are in the Northwest Territories and what type of funding we are going to look at for the next year. We understand that our needs are higher than the revenue that’s coming into the Northwest Territories. We are very happy that the federal government is contributing to the Mackenzie Valley Highway, through their recent announcement of working on a portion north of Inuvik and they already started the Tuk to Inuvik road. We, as government, are supporting this process through allocating $1...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston, as part of their first trip to the Northwest Territories, will be visiting the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, December 8, 2011, and have expressed an interest in addressing the Assembly;

AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories has the authority to waive any of its rules, procedures, customs or precedents;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that notwithstanding any rules or usual practice of...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, December 9, 2011, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that notwithstanding any rules or usual practice of this Legislative Assembly, that on Thursday, December 8, 2011, this House shall interrupt its regular business at the appropriate hour in order to receive an address from the Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable David Johnston, together will all the introductory and related remarks, and upon completion of such address the House shall continue with the business before...

I believe the Minister is being very clear that this is a one-time event and that people really need to address their arrears. I’m hoping that the Minister has a good educational plan to help people become informed as to their arrears and how they can be able to start paying off their arrears. Can the Minister inform me in the House here what type of plans they have with the Shelter Policy review and the rent scale review?

I’ve received notice from Deline that there were a lot of people on the eviction list that have to go through that legal process. This government, through the Minister, has put a moratorium to not go through that legal process. I want to ask the Minister, given the time to educate the people on the arrears if the tenants are not quite there and given the amount of time that we have, and not honour their repayment plan or to look at what the Minister’s hoping to do, what are the consequences for those tenants not quite there to start working on their arrears?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two Languages Board representatives from the Sahtu: Dora Grandjambe from Norman Wells and Ann Orlias from Colville Lake.

I’ll continue on with the motion.

AND FURTHER, that this House shall welcome the representatives of the Aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories to enter the Chamber at the appropriate time to bear witness to the address from His Excellency the Governor General.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.