Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Speaker, I have been here for seven years. It has been an issue ever since I became a Member of this House here to talk about some of the issues at Stanton in terms of traditional food. The Minister now is responding to the request. I hope that this request can be implemented by the time we finish our term here. The Minister is right in terms of elderly care in our region is costly because of the travel and the training and the dollars to go up there. I want to ask the Minister in terms of providing care in our communities in the Sahtu. Again, the example yesterday in Deline and other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I indicated that there are about 238 adults 60 years and over in the Sahtu and most of these adults are determined by the communities as elders. I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of working with our elders in terms of how we close that gap in terms of providing adequate satisfactory services to our elders as there are some sections in the Foundation for Change that would speak to this issue in terms of programs and services that we could start implementing as soon as possible. Can the Minister give me an indication as to how soon we could...

I’d like to recognize a constituent from Deline, Mr. Peter Bonnetrouge, and also I want to recognize some of the fine staff members who work here in the Leg. who are in the gallery with their children.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talked about a territorial-wide approach to respite care. Would the Minister entertain with her Cabinet Members as to how we can support families that are on call 24/7 who are basically supporting their loved ones? How can we support them in terms of putting together a solid program that would see that they would get some relief and some support in our smaller communities where some of them have to go to work after a week of taking time off? We need to get some good support in our communities. I ask the Minister if she will look at all possibilities where...

Mr. Speaker, ever since I have been in the House, I have been asking for basic requests such as providing traditional foods at Stanton Hospital for our elders. Stanton Hospital is 65 percent of our aboriginal patients there. I ask the Minister again, what is she doing in terms of this simple request. I don’t think it will cost too much to have it here at Stanton to provide traditional food for some of our elders that come here for some length of stay. When can the Minister give me a solid answer in terms of this simple request?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In life at times we are very fortunate to meet someone special who shows up in our life to either teach us, give us a push or just to listen. Well, Mr. Speaker, I had that experience in my life, as well as many others too. I recently heard a good friend, Mansell Gray, passed away on October 22, 2010, in Hay River. He was surrounded by many of those he helped and by clergy who prayed for him.

Mansell came north in 1988 and worked in Fort Providence, Fort McPherson and, finally, in Hay River. Later on, in the ‘90s, Mansell was joined by his wife, Elaine, who has since...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have about 238 adults in the Sahtu region that are 60 years and older. Some of these adults are considered elders in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, elders’ care in the Sahtu is severely lacking. Gone are the days of families taking care of their parents and grandparents on a full-time basis. Mr. Speaker, families need support to take care of their own in their own homes. However, this type of care puts a lot of pressure on families, because it speaks to the core values and beliefs of a family in our communities. It’s stressful as families have to take care of their own...

I’ll look forward to the Minister’s answer in terms of an exact figure. If it’s around seven or eight million, I want to ask the Minister about the supplementary health benefits that we do provide for our people in the North. What’s the percentage of increase every year of this special program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister in terms of what is preventing her from implementing the use of the non-insured health benefits rules right away for the various supplementary health benefits programs that we have made suggestions to. What’s preventing her from making these changes right away?

I want to ask the Minister about some families and children who are in the working poor who are today, as we speak right now today, in the last couple years do not have basic health care coverage. Again, I hear from the Minister that they’re working hard in this government to see what kind of coverage they can implement, but as each day that we sit here and talk, these families have to deal with this type of issue that they’re not covered like the rest of us are. I want to ask the Minister, can she and her government implement a plan as soon as possible to help those poor families in the...