Statements in Debates
Mr. Speaker, in the Sahtu region we have many young people under the age of 25 years old. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, 45 percent of the entire population of the Sahtu is under 25 years old. That’s an amazing fact, Mr. Speaker.
We need to develop and implement a solid plan for training so that our young people get the best training for the future. Our young people are eagerly waiting to contribute to our communities and to the North. Many young people are making their best efforts to participate in upgrading and employment training programs, and we need to have a regional training centre...
The health care services to Colville Lake by the Sahtu Health Board, mainly the community of Fort Good Hope, has provided an increase of health care into Colville Lake. I spoke to the health representatives and they are happy they are seeing more regular visits by the nurse. Also they made mention that they would like to see more training for an additional position, because it gets quite heavy in terms of their responsibility as a health care professional. Would the Minister look at program funding in terms of having an additional person in Colville Lake to help out and offset health care...
Thank you. The question I have, Mr. Speaker, is to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to the issue of nurses in small communities. Can the Minister tell the House how many communities do not have a full-time nurse?
I’m getting hungry now here. I want to ask the Minister in terms of his development, his process in terms of developing local markets for, say for example, fish, in terms of once the budget now is going to be, hopefully, finalized within the next six days here, in terms of going forward, is the Minister then prepared to put a discussion paper before the appropriate community in terms of getting their input, in terms of having this initiative see the light of day in terms of when we can get something on the go here.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of ITI. Just to listen to him, he’s a big fan of strategies and visions. I want to ask the Minister here in terms of getting -- I’m going to back to it -- wildlife food into our government facilities or into stores. Right now we have a fish market here. We have good fish in the Great Slave Lake and Bear Lake. How can the Minister, through his department, assist the fishery industry to put fish into our government institutions such as the hospital where they can have traditional foods in that facility?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Congratulations on your success in the Tlicho region. I’m talking about the Yellowknives Dene and their issue here. I’d like to ask the Minister again if he would commit all his time and effort to his officials to sit down with the Yellowknives Dene and the Dene Nation involved here, sit down, go somewhere, hammer out a deal, hope that by this week we can have a deal. Listen to both sides, come out with an issue. This is a critical issue here. I ask the Minister if he can commit the time and effort and resources to hammer out a deal with the Yellowknives Dene.
I know you have mentioned this in the House, that you hope to have some conclusion and resolution to this critical issue here. I’ve been hearing this for almost a week and a half or two weeks. I want to ask the Minister about concluding this issue with the Yellowknives First Nation if he can give me a date on hoping that both sides are satisfactory and a conclusion or resolution can be imminent and this issue can be put to bed.
There are many issues in the Sahtu regarding education. I just recently was notified that two students that did attend a Fort Smith course at Aurora College and one wanted to attend the NAIT program. Both dropped out and went back to the Sahtu and are now working. Mr. Speaker, these are two young men that weren’t able to pursue the post-secondary education. That’s a crying shame, Mr. Speaker, in terms of supporting our students. With regards to all these issues that can be raised in the Sahtu, the Minister will be getting an educational symposium proposal from the Sahtu to have education...
I will look at it and see if it eases my reference here. Okay. I have to read this before I have other questions I can speak later on to. That will be it for me.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister, in his ministerial statement, talked about education and I also heard some Members talk about the Mentorship Program here. I want to ask the Minister, I’ve been working quite diligently with him over a couple of years to look at a mentorship program in the Sahtu in terms of involving our real teachers in our culture, the elders. How do you get the real teachers into an education system to work with us and the parents? When will the Minister put forth a directive saying elders now have to be involved in our education system?