Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Moses.

In an eloquent statement at the public meeting in Fort Providence, Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge said, “The Mental Health Act should be written for the people it serves.” The committee wholeheartedly agreed and made a point of incorporating provisions on Aboriginal culture and the role that elders play in promoting mental and emotional wellness.

The preamble to the current act, which was not carried over into Bill 55, recognizes the many cultures of the peoples of the Northwest Territories and stipulates that an elder must be consulted when an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a report by the Special Committee on Transition Matters – Passing the Mace: Recommendations to the 18th Legislative Assembly.

Transition is when one group of people willfully hands over political power to another group of people.

This year the Northwest Territories (NWT) will transition from the 17th Legislative Assembly to the 18th Legislative Assembly. This process will begin with the dissolution of the 17th Assembly on October 25th, followed by polling day for the General Election on November 23rd and the appointment of a new government soon thereafter.

The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can I seek unanimous consent of yourself and the Members to return to item 5?

---Unanimous consent granted

Certainly, that raises our hopes in the region. I want to ask the Minister, has he been working with his other colleagues with regards to bringing in some much needed skill development, trade development, in regards to, for example, the Selwyn-Chihong Mine operations, bringing in some type of trades program with the Mine Training Society to look at how do we tap into these young resources of workers in the Sahtu region to increase our viability to be in the mine and not have situations where we see where we fly in miners to take the jobs from our Sahtu people, our northern people?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI. I talked about the potential in the Sahtu region with our human resources, our people and with the resources in our lands.

I want to ask the Minister, has he had an opportunity to look at the opportunities of the economic potential in the Sahtu region with our people in our lands? Does he have a quick snapshot picture of what’s there?

One of the factors of these 10 or more students who have dropped out for one reason or another in Colville Lake could be because we don’t have a proper school to educate them. Because of this situation and working with Colville Lake, the Colville Lake Education Council and the Sahtu Board of Education have cut this year’s budget by cutting out high school teachers. There are no high school teachers in Colville Lake. This is why the community, chief and council are pushing strong that they get a proper school in Colville Lake. This has to stop, Mr. Speaker.

What is the Minister going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Currently, in Colville Lake there are 45 to 50 students enrolled this year. About 10 of those students have dropped out for one reason or another. They are citing that the fact that they cannot concentrate in the small building shared by all grades, considering that kindergarten and Grade 1 are housed in a separate building.

So, imagine the size of this room. You have well over 40 students all trying to reach their grade potentials. This is why Colville Lake is asking for partnership with this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that subclause 34(3) of Bill 64 be deleted and the following substituted:

(3) Subsection 42(6) is amended by striking out “$100” and substituting “$500”.

I urge this government to build upon the partnership that they have with Colville Lake and make this a reality. It’s been proven already. I urge this government to continue this initiative and pass it on to the next government. Colville Lake recognizes our goal set out in the 17th Legislative Assembly and we must walk our talk and commit ourselves to partnerships that will see a new school in Colville Lake

Thank you for the clarification, Ms. Kemeys-Jones. I want to ask about the Fine Option Program specifically in the communities that the offender then would work off their Fine Option Program through… Is it flexible enough that they could work it off through a community type of initiative? Say for example elders, they can go out to a fish lake; they can set the fishnets and provide fish for some of the elders and some of the older people for that type of initiative. So they would work it off and provide to the community as a whole to pay off their fine.