Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Members for all speaking up and saying what you have to say; and also for the Minister’s consideration to the new Assembly once we get there.

I want to say that this motion came from a time when my family was out at Old Fort Point in the bush. When I came back to Tulita, the first person that came to me said to me that we have to do something with the young kids and their drinking. It’s getting scary and out of hand.

I know, as Mrs. Groenewegen has stated, that not all people have lived or grown up on the land and sometimes it’s very difficult, so I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS alcohol abuse has taken a heavy toll in all Northwest Territories communities;

AND WHEREAS alcohol consumption and drug use has increased among young people;

AND WHEREAS NWT Liquor Commission net revenues will increase to $24 million in fiscal year 2011-2012 from $22 million in fiscal year 2008-2009;

AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has only one alcohol and drug treatment centre;

AND WHEREAS there is no detoxification centre or relapse centre in the territory;

AND WHEREAS the Department of Health and Social Services strategic action plan, “A Foundation for Change...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable colleagues. I want to recognize an important G’asho Got’ine from Fort Good Hope to Yellowknife, Wilbert Cook Sr. Along with him is his girlfriend, Celine, and their baby, Tyrell. Also with Wilbert Cook is Wilbert Cook Jr. and his son Joey and his son’s girlfriend, Donna. I’d like to welcome them to the gallery.

I certainly look forward to some of those discussions also. I want to ask the Premier: wouldn’t it make sense, I guess, coming back and having some of these analyses before we are done this Assembly, to look at does it make sense to put some of these key basic essential services or programs in some of the communities that do not have them versus some of the ones that are already there?

I guess what I’m looking for is, it’s been four years since I’ve been asking for an RCMP presence in Colville Lake. We’re always being told we have to deal with the fiscal constraint. So I want to see how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The population of the Sahtu is about 2,645. Of that population there’s about 270 elders; 45 percent of our population is under the age of 24 years old. I wanted to ask the Premier, responsible for the Department of the Executive, if his department has ever done a study or analysis of what type of dollars would it mean for this government if you were to put in some of the essential, basic services in Colville, Good Hope, Deline, Tulita, in terms of bringing up some of the services that we have in other communities that have government programs that people take for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For thousands of years the people of the Sahtu have relied on the land to sustain us and our elders to guide us. Mr. Speaker, with those resources, it’s hard to keep the good people down, even with the challenges the residents face today. Just look at the issue in Norman Wells.

However, today I am pleased to talk about the projects that the Sahtu residents are involved in to address the high cost of living and improve their way of life. The Sahtu has become the potato capital of the Northwest Territories. Last year more than 10,000 pounds of spuds were grown locally and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, May 16, 2011, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the Government of the Northwest Territories take immediate action to identify the various options for establishing a mobile alcohol and drug treatment program that can be delivered on the land, and report back to the 17th Legislative Assembly during the first six months of its term in office.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Deputy Premier if he would work with me to take up the initiative to declare a Canadian historical site in Colville Lake to the log buildings that Bern Will Brown built so that they would be looked after by this society.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. I appreciate your commitment to the people in the Sahtu. I want to ask the Minister, in his Minister’s statement he talked about the investment being spent in the other regions and I want to know about his investment to the Sahtu in terms of training and improvement to our facilities or renovations or any type of shelters. I know there is a McKinnon Park in Norman Wells that is looked after. Is that included in his budget?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of ITI how many parks are there in the Sahtu region.