Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The number of issues that this department has to deal with are very important to people in the North and people in my region. We are starting to see some of the impacts of the warming up of the environment, some of the concerns that my elders in Colville Lake are raising in regards to climate change, especially with the weather. It is very rare that elders would stop you and talk to you about the weather. They don’t like to talk about it in their cultural beliefs. That’s the first time that the elders said we’ve got to talk about it. When the elders say that to a young...

Mr. Chairman, the Minister is certainly correct. Also in the report it states warrant further investigations to the communities that are listed out. Certainly they also have communities listed for all-weather road, communities that would benefit from a district heating system. These are the communities that are favourable for economic potential for biomass initiatives. My point, Mr. Chairman, is that the communities that are on the winter road resupply that I listed off have not gotten lost in the system. Mr. Minister has indicated that there are already plans in place. Again, I am going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that he plans to sit down with the Minister of Education. Would the Minister look at, again, the review more comprehensively and see if some of the things that they do with the Take a Kid Trapping Program that they would look at building some credits to this program here so that will be going towards a Grade 12 diploma?

That is where the hiccup is in terms of having these woodstoves put into some of the houses for some of the communities. They have been using woodstoves for many, many years and I don’t think some of the old-timers had to have, for insurance purposes, anybody come in there and look and say we can’t put it in there. They just bought it and they put it in, so that is where there are some disagreements. I hope they can resolve that issue, and maybe not, I am not too sure how they could do it.

It seems to be something that seems to be putting a damper on a good thing by this department to help out...

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in terms of the success for the program Take a Kid Trapping, if he would sit down with his colleagues and see if they would review this program to see how they could include it into curriculum into the schools, into a more permanent core curriculum or program that would support our students to learn both on the land and in school, in terms of their education.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Department of Transportation has done a lot of work in the Territories. I want to speak on the initiatives that were done in my region and I want to say that the airport infrastructure that happened in my region were very beneficial to my constituents, to the airline companies. We were happy that the department and the Fort Good Hope community came to a satisfactory solution that helped them extend the runway a little longer. People in Fort Good Hope were very pleased that this has taken place, because of their joint ventures with NorthWright in terms of the...

Mr. Chair, the alternative energy initiatives that are happening around the North there, I wanted to ask the Minister in looking at the biomass energy, I know there are some reports that have been out there on the Alternative Energy Initiative and the communities that would benefit greatly. I wanted to ask the Minister if they’ve come to a conclusion in terms of establishing something in the Sahtu to help them with the high cost of living, with opportunities and to reduce the greenhouse and all the other good stuff that goes on with the biomass, maybe a manufacturing plant. I also understand...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I often speak in support of culture and Aboriginal programs and the needs for these programs to preserve and to hold onto our traditions, especially in our educational institutions. My Member’s statement today will focus on the importance of these same programs that contribute to the achievement of our children and our youth. We need to continue to walk in our ancestors’ footpath of success, which is adept to whatever is in front of us.

Last year, in the Auditor General’s report, it was clear from the Alberta Achievement Tests in the last three years that NWT students’...

Sometime in the first week in March, I would hope that I would follow up with the community of Tulita to see if this issue has been resolved and that people in Tulita can go to a depot and get a refund. I certainly hope that there are some alternatives in place. The Northern Store is charging fees that we, in the community of Tulita, are paying extra fees and there doesn’t seem to be any support mechanisms to help them out with these extra fees. So I would leave it in the good hands of the Minister that he has stated that in a couple of weeks, hopefully, these options can be sorted out and the...

Page 13-14, Mr. Chair?