Norman Yakeleya

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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when the House adjourns on October 28, 2011, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, December 7, 2011;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to December 7, 2011, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Extended adjournment of the House to December 7, 2011. I give notice that on Monday, October 31, 2011, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when the House adjourns on October 28, 2011, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, December 7, 2011;

And further, that any time prior to December 7, 2011, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier...

That’s something we can talk about. The Premier has put up some very good arguments, but realistically you go to Yellowknife and how long are you here? You can go around any block. You can go to small communities, visit. We have to get realistic here. It’s really good to see Cabinet Ministers when they come into my region. You visit me. I really appreciate that. We’ve had some good meetings with the previous government here. It’s realistic. Sometimes you may not want to travel to our communities because of the weather and other functions, but when they can do it, they can do it. You can go to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on Mrs. Groenewegen’s questions to the Premier on Cabinet coming into our region. Some of our regions that we represent have four or five or six communities. Sometimes when we ask Cabinet Ministers, through their busy schedule sometimes it’s a quick visit in or a quick visit out, or we can do two communities rather than three communities. Sometimes we are left with why our community didn’t get the Premier or Cabinet Minister. We have to do a very careful balancing act on how we sort that out.

I want to ask if he would look at when they do, when...

Can the Premier tell us how he’s going to involve this Assembly? How do we staff the right person? Are we going to have some staff in Ottawa that would help us bridge the link between us and the Minister’s office to strengthen the agreement with our Aboriginal partners on this important issue and other issues in the North such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway? How are we going to evolve and determine the staffing if we are going to have a staff in Ottawa to help us get our financial, political, economic situation here in the Northwest Territories, and most importantly, our relationship with the...

Hopefully, somewhere between now and whenever Minister Duncan comes north and meets with all the Aboriginal leaders to discuss this important issue, being a former chief negotiator of the land claim and self-government, that the federal government tag the amount of money to conclude a deal with the benefits if we go ahead to sign or not to sign.

With the devolution we have an 18-month time frame. I want to ask the Premier, in his discussions so far with the Aboriginal governments, the federal government, if that 18-month time frame is something that we’re working towards or something that could...