Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier about the elders and the passing of them. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, I know it’s been a wish of the elders prior to them passing, that a lot of them want to stay in their own communities and be laid to rest there. However, sometimes that’s not possible. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of helping with the families with the elders’ wishes, what type of palliative care do they have in the Sahtu region in terms of helping with the elders and their last days in their communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The chapter of a strong Metis life was closed last week in Tulita, Mr. Speaker. A Metis man of the land, a gentle man with a loud voice, you knew when he was in the house. Also, Mr. Speaker, there are many honourable elders who have passed away in the Sahtu this year too. Mr. Speaker, with them we lay to rest their experience, their knowledge and their wisdom that make us proud to be Dene or Metis in the Sahtu region and in the North.

Mr. Speaker, in keeping with the passing of the elders, the ones who hold the sacred knowledge to speak with wisdom and live life as life...

Just a comment. The peace officers, are they the ones that are sworn in such as bylaw officers in terms of their authority as a peace officer?

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly be happy to give those six names to the Minister. Also, there are other elders in the Sahtu who have already passed away and should have had support by this department to know that they can die an honourable death in their communities rather than come to Yellowknife and...(inaudible)...other facilities that passed away. This has put a lot of stress on the people in the Sahtu. I want to ask the Minister what is it that she needs to do to put extra support within her department, extra support within the communities to have palliative care support in the communities...

Mr. Speaker, the support that is there, sometimes it is not meeting the needs of these elders and their families. What can be done to increase the support so that families do have time to rest and take a break to take care of their families?

Right now we have six families, possibly, in Deline who are going to need support for the families. What can the Minister do and what can this government do in terms of supporting these families, in terms of the needs for these elders?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize an elder from the Sahtu and advisor to me, Mr. Andrew John Kenny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Premier just on the draft AIP in regards to the signatories to the agreement. Right now we have a bilateral. It is the federal government and the territorial government. There are no lines there for any of the aboriginal governments to sign on. I understand that the aboriginal governments can sign on later on. Right now the parameters are being set between the federal government and the territorial government. There are some major issues with the aboriginal governments of being signatories of this. Why are the aboriginal governments not signatories to...

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister mentioned in his ministerial statement that there is no reason why we can’t have food produced in the Northwest Territories and sold in grocery stores, hotels and restaurants. Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with the Minister in this statement here. I would ask the Minister, in terms of going ahead, in terms of making this a reality, what can the Minister do to advise his department, his council, in terms of making this a reality for the people in the Northwest Territories, people who are paying a high price for groceries in the Sahtu region, so they can certainly...

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. My statement is about blood, sweat and good teamwork.

Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu is the most remarkable place. The largest lake, Bear Lake, in Canada, is the first ice hockey game in Canada, the CANOL Trail, and now due to the true grit and determination of a couple of northern farmers, Norman Wells has become the potato capital of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, it began with some discouraging results: a poor crop of small potatoes last year. Mr. Speaker, that didn’t stop Doug Whiteman, owner of Green Enterprises. With some advice from PEI potato farmers, and...

I certainly hope that the Minister, when he presents the budgets on capital infrastructure that we’ll see an increase in these wilderness camps, these so-called bush camps that would house inmates.

I understand that the facilities in the North are quite overcrowded and these wilderness camps don’t happen as much as we would like them to. They’re sporadic throughout the year and in the meantime we have capacity issues at these facilities.

Again, in these cells that these inmates are sharing, there are sometimes three inmates to a cell and there are different things that we need to ensure the...