Norman Yakeleya

We’re just about at the end of our term as legislators. Let’s talk about hypothetical here. There is going to be a federal election in springtime, not too sure. This agreement here has been an issue. We don’t have critical mass in terms of the strength to go ahead with the AIP in terms of making it a truly northern deal. The parameters have been set to negotiate some of the finer details of the agreement. That’s why I use the term “rush,” in terms that it may not be well taken by the Cabinet. However, that’s the way it’s been looked upon by some of the people in my region.

The important...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say to the people in my region and to a lot of people in the Northwest Territories who contacted me over the last couple of months, I’m certainly glad to be alive today.

---Applause

I want to express my appreciation to the people who have made phone calls to me, who have talked to my wife. I really listened to some of the Members who made condolences to some of their own constituents who have passed away and people who have passed away in the past, and certainly my own people in the Sahtu region, of some of the difficulties that we as people go through when...

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the Members in this House what he is going to do to ensure that the sale of public housing units can occur in a timely manner within the communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the questions to the Housing Minister. I know the Housing Minister made some statements about the program reviews and things that are going to see, hopefully, some changes for the good for people in the communities, especially with purchasing, renovating and housing and such. I want to ask the Minister in terms of speed of the process. However, I am still receiving a lot of inquiries and concerns about people purchasing houses in my region. As a matter of fact, there is one lady right now that wants to purchase her house; however, it is going...

Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that the Premier has much success in terms of the negotiations or discussions that are going to happen in Edmonton this evening. Certainly the issues of the Sahtu are very important to us, to a point where it stated clearly in my letter from our chairperson, carbon copied to me, that we are not prepared to advance the territorial agenda until some very basic concerns of the Sahtu are addressed. I would like to ask the Premier in terms of what type of indications that would weigh, I guess, in terms of this Cabinet decision to say, yes, these are the basic issues of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier in terms of his meeting with the aboriginal leaders later on this afternoon or this evening in Edmonton. I want to ask the Premier in terms of his discussion and in light of any type of documentation or indication from the aboriginal governments, in terms of their support to sign on with the territorial government to begin the next steps in terms of this draft agreement-in-principle. Can the Premier inform the House and the people of the North in terms of what type of reaction he has from the aboriginal governments so far?

I’d like to recognize the leadership from Deline. I’ll go through the list here: Mr. Peter Menacho, president of the Deline Land Corporation; Morris Neyelle; Paul Modeste, who’s from Russell Bay; elder Alfred Taniton; former Chief Dolphus Baton; band manager, if she’s there, Pauline Roach; Chief Raymond Tutcho; elder John Yukon; member from Deline, Russell Kenny and Danny Gaudet.

Also I’d like to recognize two of the Pages from Tulita’s Chief Albert Wright School: Jordan Lennie and Erica MacCauley.

I’d also like to say thank you to Verna and Gay for all their hard work for the Members who come...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought about this motion and due to the sudden developments of the draft AIP, I said there is something missing here. There is something seriously flawed with this process here. That is why I asked to have this motion come to the House for some discussion.

We need to look at a public consultation process. Mr. Speaker, I have been in the negotiations business for a bit before I became the MLA for Sahtu. Any type of drastic changes to our communities or the way we will run our communities, when we come to a process of putting an agreement together and having the people...

WHEREAS the people of the Northwest Territories share common values and aspirations, including the belief that the authority to govern stems from the people to their institutions of government;

AND WHEREAS aboriginal governments are intrinsically linked as partners in designing, implementing and participating in the development of government institutions;

AND WHEREAS respect for the Northwest Territories’ diverse cultures and the desire to live in balance with the land are cornerstones of our future and those of our governments;

AND WHEREAS the recent draft Agreement-in-Principle on Devolution of...