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?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask this Minister, given the situation in Colville Lake where 10 or more students have dropped out citing their own reasons, within the life of this government is he seeing this as a crisis in Colville Lake? Can the Minister commit to going to Colville Lake with officials and the Sahtu Education Board to stop the students leaving the school by the time this government is finished? Can the Minister commit to going to Colville Lake to say he’s going to do something? Is that something I can look forward to from this Minister?

The families of the students that have dropped out of school for one reason or another are saying that the small building that is shared by all the grades, they cannot concentrate in that school. Colville Lake is looking for a solution. This should be up there and making the headlines. Ten students or more have dropped out of Colville Lake’s school, citing that the building is not adequate. These are the results of the situation in Colville Lake.

How can this Minister, since we have 20 days or so left in our government, move this to the next government citing this as an emergency crisis...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize all the students here in the gallery from the schools. I want to say something to the students. Never give up on your dreams. One day you could be down here too. So keep up what you’re doing, set your goals high and work hard together. Thank you for the good work that you’re doing. I’m hoping that we can get a chapter like this in the Sahtu region, also, for the same message.

I also want to recognize my little nephew. He’s here, Carter, and I’m very surprised to see him. He’s come into his own world, a young man. He’s come a long way since he was a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. No more questions. Let’s get this built fast.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I Had a Million Dollars was a song sung by the Barenaked Ladies. However, I’m not going to say anything to that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if I had a million dollars I would pursue with the people of Colville Lake and this government to develop a strong partnership with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to begin planning to build a new school. …(inaudible)…,says the movie. If you build it, they will come.

This issue is so important that it was raised with the Premier and the Cabinet on September 24th in meetings with SSI and our government. The...