Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Chair, I wanted to ask the Minister in regard to his comments on page 2 of 2. He mentioned something about releasing a public discussion paper on establishment of an NWT Heritage Fund. Does the Minister have a date as to when this is going to be released to the public for discussion and what type of plan he has to have a discussion with the public on this? Is it going to be through various forums?

From this side here, I certainly appreciate the Minister’s willingness to look at this. There are certainly no guarantees in any type of reallocation or jigging of the numbers here or even to increase it. So I do appreciate his openness to see if we can get some support to have a look at it and maybe come back in the coming year to see if we can do something with this.

I do want to talk to the Minister regarding the special event funding for aboriginal organizations. Is it okay for the Minister to provide us with a list of the type of organizations and funding we can have? I know some of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to let the Assembly know that I certainly wanted to say how pleased I was with the introduction of the first Elders’ Parliament that you’re going to have this year. I think it’s a unique approach. It gives the elders who are going to participate in the parliament a sense of what us young leaders go through, a sense of the work. I think this is a good initiative that should be successful. You always have something to learn and it will be very good. I was talking to some of my elders in Deline over the past weekend and they’re quite excited about this. So I think...

Thank you. Just on the Rare in Nature we have main estimates of $250,000 and then you go down to $100,000. I’d like to ask the Minister the reasons for the decrease in those numbers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could I say that there are two other areas here that don’t show any dollars. Is that the same type of scenario with the federal government on the funding arrangements?

Mr. Chair, I want to find out the issue of analysis of field samples that we don’t have any budget. Can I ask the Minister in terms of this item here: analysis of field samples?

I have just one more point. I know the community of Colville Lake is dealing with an issue here on their tank farm and I know it’s quite a costly endeavour to work with Colville Lake to move the tank farm. I just wanted you to know that I’d like to continue working with the Minister on this issue. It’s quite a costly endeavour and Colville Lake has made a request on their tank farm situation. It’s going to cost them about a million dollars to move to a place where they want to do it. It’s within their community plan. However, Colville Lake just doesn’t have that kind of dollars to be a partner...

Thank you. I know that small communities that rely on trapping people have gone out trapping for a good portion of their lives, these elders, and certainly there are some young trappers who also want to be part of that lifestyle. I agree with the Minister that there are programs that contribute to trappers in the Northwest Territories. Just in saying that, I wanted to ask the Minister about the Trapper Training Program. I’m not too sure if it quite goes with the youth trapping, but I could be wrong. It was just something that they were asking that, you know, we have a group of trappers, but...

Thank you. Just on the environmental management, they had a close call during spring breakup in terms of the petroleum products fuel lines. Has that been rectified and are there other issues like that, that when the ice breaks up, the fuel lines are being monitored and there are safety mechanisms in place that we don’t have a fuel spill into the Mackenzie River?

There is a misunderstanding later, because they do not fully understand what they’re signing for. We need to make sure that the NWT Housing Corporation receives proper orientation to understanding their clientele.

In closing, the issue of bringing up the treaty will continue until it is clear what was meant when the government asked for our ‘X’. We were promised, as the saying goes, as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the river flows. This is a good treaty.