Norman Yakeleya

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.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has the campaign Make Your Mark Campaign to attract southern workers to the Northwest Territories. This program was designed to bring people up north to live here and make their investment here. I want to ask the Minister if we could look at some of that work and look at some of the money that could maybe be re-profiled to ensure that our own local talents also have job opportunities here in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. I want to ask about the hiring of summer students this year. In the Sahtu the last three years we have graduated 50 high school students, not counting the Aurora College students. I want to ask the Minister if the government is on track for hiring summer students this year compared to previous years.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you honourable Members.

The Auditor General’s final recommendation is that the department ensure that a single authority certifies that the design and construction of the bridge meet the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, and that certification be obtained before the bridge is open to traffic. The department assured the committee that it is seeking the most practical means to ensure that the bridge is signed off by an Engineer of Record.

Further quality testing will be required for a single Engineer of Record to sign off on the bridge, which will carry...

I guess we could also carve off some of the slack that’s in government so we can hire some of these summer students to work for us. Will this government support the Aurora College students who are graduating with a career profession, such as education, teachers and such? I say this because we have an Aboriginal nurse graduating from the Nursing Program who couldn’t even find a job in this government. This student here had to work at a gift shop. There are students out there that cannot find work within our own force who are graduating from our institutions. I’m asking if this government can...

If there aren’t enough positions in the Government of the Northwest Territories for our own students, is the government looking at subsidizing local Aboriginal governments, NGOs, and the private sector, to hire students?