Norman Yakeleya

Thank you. Just to follow up, Mr. Chair, on the supplementary health benefits and the recommendations that came from the committee. I know in the Minister’s sessional statement from the last session she talked about this spring we would have new policies coming out and see where things are going to be followed up on the recommendations. I guess I just wanted to get clarification in terms of what she’s exchanging with MLA Hawkins in terms of their report that the government is now implementing on the supplementary health. I want to see where the working poor, how that issue is being followed up...

Thank you. Can the Premier explain where the thousands of dollars that have been given to the regions went if it wasn’t to explain the devolution?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked about devolution. I want to ask the Premier some questions. I want to ask him in terms of the mandates for going forward, when and who decided that the Aboriginal governments won’t have direct participation at the tables when they were negotiating the draft AIP? So far what I’ve been told and what I’ve read is only the GNWT and the federal governments were negotiating and they drafted the AIP. The Aboriginal governments were briefed from time to time, but they didn’t really have a seat at the table per se in terms of the direct negotiations on this important...

Again, I’d like to ask the Minister about medical travel. I understand that the department will be reviewing its Medical Travel Policy and I myself being personally involved in medical travel in the Northwest Territories, look forward to having some meaningful discussions with the Minister and the staff about my own experience with medical travel. I won’t take up the time now to talk about it, but at a different time in terms of how medical has been with me at least and my family and I’m not very happy with it. I don’t need to say any more right now, but I wanted to have the opportunity to...

I certainly look forward to seeing what type of information the Minister can provide to me. I know we’re in operations and maintenance expense budget and I’m not too sure of where it fits in terms of operations and maintenance of the Colville Lake Health Centre there, our nursing centre, in terms of what I’m asking for in terms of the planning or to advance it to funding for capital expenditures, and if that’s something that should be at another table here. I look forward to whatever the Minister can give in terms of how do we improve that health centre there to where now they’re going to have...

I pose this question because it’s a big issue. That’s what we’re dealing with in our communities, some of the changes. We could have a discussion but somewhere it gets lost in the system. Some of the communities in my region want to have some programs, like, for example, to develop their own home care service in Colville Lake, but we’re just unable to get into the system. Why not have the system get into the needs of Colville Lake? The books and policies say we can’t do this, we know you’re going to do this, you shouldn’t do this. It gets lost and after awhile they say we’re not really serving...

Mr. Chairman, the response from the Minister, I’m having a hard time accepting it. I know that’s part of life, I guess, when you get into a relationship. You know, the husband or the wife wants to move here or stay there. However, I don’t know if that’s one of the requirements of this government here or this department here hiring social workers or our nurses. I mean, that’s part of life. I hope the Minister will be big enough to see that the whole community needs one of our workers in that community and to tell the community of Tulita because of our social worker is now in a relationship, so...

Thank you. I’ll wait until the Minister gets the information back to me.

Thank you. Can the Minister provide to me and the House in terms of types of specifically cultural programs that could be used in our small communities which are primarily in my region, primarily Aboriginal communities in regard to how to deal with these types of issues and if there are ways that they involve elders through the languages?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about how badly we need our youth in the Northwest Territories today to stay alive. Mr. Speaker, it’s very hard in our small communities, and I’m pleading right now to the youth in the Northwest Territories. There are families right now in the North that are dealing with issues of suicide, family violence, drugs and alcohol and with our youth. There are families right now that need help and our youth are so valuable and they’re bombarded with so many issues.

Mr. Speaker, I had to deal with one in Colville Lake and I’m asking the youth how hard sometimes...