Norman Yakeleya

In terms of the resources, can the Minister tell me roughly the estimates of the resources and when possibly they could hope for some resources in terms of working on the highway from Dempster to Inuvik or Inuvik to Dempster, somewhere where we’ll start seeing some work in the Sahtu or even in the Gwich’in region?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for Mr. McLeod, the Minister of Transportation, in regard to the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I want to ask the Minister in terms of any of the latest updates on seeing this highway being constructed and progress on seeing some work being done in regard to starting the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Mr. Miltenberger listed a number of factors to the decline of the caribou. I would like to know about the impact on the caribou. Does the Minister have any information in terms of the calving of the caribou? Has this had an impact on the calving of caribou?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask some questions to the Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger, in regard to the study on the Bathurst caribou herd. I want to ask the Minister has his department, along with other independent consultants, done an in-depth study on the impacts of the diamond mines that were opened up in the North part of this region in terms of seeing if that had any impacts on the migration of or the breeding or anything that has to do with the caribou?

Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago there was a leadership meeting in Fort Simpson convened by the Dene Nation where all the chiefs had some discussions on this issue. From discussion I heard on the radio, it seems like we are still at an impasse in terms of this issue here with the chief and this government in terms of the ban on caribou and there must be some form of miscommunication somewhere along the line. Would the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs see if there is a possibility of seeing if we could work with the leadership down the Mackenzie Valley in terms of how do we deal with this issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in regard to the caribou issue that is happening right now. I want to ask the Minister in his role as the Affairs Minister, has he had any type of discussion with the Minister of Indian Affairs on the situation that is happening in the Northwest Territories?

Would the process in terms of this Mackenzie Valley Highway, I know there are discussions now between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik in terms of their ongoing process to see an all-season road made there. Would this process come down into the Mackenzie Valley in terms of connecting from the Dempster down to the community of Wrigley, or Wrigley up the highway in terms of project description funding and environmental assessment? I know the Minister has done an economic analysis of the Mackenzie Valley Highway in terms of the federal government coming forward and stepping up to the plate to support this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly did receive a briefing from the Minister and I hope the Minister would make that briefing public so we could have the public look at it. Does he have a record of all the outfitters in this area that will be impacted or have been impacted in regards to this caribou herd and the impact of the outfitters taking the prize bulls in terms of doing part of their business? Can the Minister share that also with the Members?

Thank you. Does the department have a before and after report as to the impacts of the caribou? There are thousands of vehicles that go up to the diamond mines each year. They are doing a lot of blasting in those areas and there’s certainly lots of disruption in terms of the natural lifestyle of the caribou. Has the Minister shared that with this House? I haven’t seen a report in terms of the possible impacts of this diamond mine on the caribou.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to a solid policy where people can go and launch a complaint in their own language. Mr. Speaker, I’m speaking about this person in Fort Good Hope that went to the health centre. She was diagnosed about two weeks later with pneumonia. Mr. Speaker, that is unacceptable. We had a death in our community that should not happen. That is unacceptable. So, again, I look forward to a time when the Minister can outline a time where she can state in this House where policies on people with long-term complaints regarding health care can be tabled in the House.