Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What if you went to a grocery store on your way home today to buy a few basic things like four litres of milk and some dish soap, and it costs you $25? Some people might think it was a mistake, but not if you live in Fort Good Hope. It’s normal.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of living in the Sahtu is amongst the highest in the Northwest Territories. We’re paying through our teeth. At $2.42 per kilowatt for electricity, Colville Lake pays the highest power rate of all Northwest Territories communities. Let’s start by having some real discussions on a review of the electrical...

Mr. Speaker, that’s why I asked the Minister earlier is he prepared to work in partnership with the Sahtu in terms of monitoring the access of this road and the airport. There’s going to be lots of development. Is the Minister again willing to come to the Sahtu, sit down with the Sahtu leaders in terms of how do we limit some restrictions of vehicle usage in that area to protect our land?

To access the Mactung Mine on the Yukon side, they have to drive from the Yukon into the Northwest Territories to get to the Mactung Mine. I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of the time frame in terms of transferring this piece of jurisdiction over to the territorial government for the Sahtu and the people of the Northwest Territories to have this park. I’m asking the Minister in terms of the time frame, because the notices have gone out to open up the Mactung Mine here. Can the Minister outline a time frame as to when this transfer will happen to see the new establishment of this park here...

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister consider having a working partnership with the Sahtu people so that if these land rovers ever do decide to come back to the Northwest Territories, they would be stopped there and not to go any further on this CANOL Heritage Trail?

Mr. Speaker, the issue of the land rovers coming in from B.C., these six land rovers that came very close to some very sensitive areas in the Sahtu along the Heritage Trail. These vehicles tear up the muskeg road. I want to ask the Minister in terms of him working with the Minister of Transportation in terms of some restrictions on this piece of road here. As you know, Mactung Mine, close to the border, has filed for some application to start up their project here. It will become very busy. The Yukon government has put thousands of dollars into upgrading the North CANOL Road. I want to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to reviewing the recommendations with the rest of the Members of this House here and Cabinet colleagues. Can the Minister tell us as to when these recommendations can come to the knowledge of the public in terms of this review of this specific issue on reducing the cost of living in our small communities?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for some of the highlights of what his department is doing. I am also asking about some of the other businesses such as the Northern Store, the Co-op or some of the other industries that have goods and services, because of the high cost of running their stores on these diesel power plants in my region, where the costs are fairly high in terms of being in the region. Mr. Speaker, I will ask the Minister if there is anything his department is doing to reduce the costs in these communities.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize and send my congratulations to Mr. Glen Guthrie of the Sahtu.

Mr. Guthrie was awarded the Lloyd Cook Award for his commitment to further educate the public on wildlife management.

Mr. Speaker, this award is a national recognition with the Fur Industry of Canada, and we offer our heartfelt thanks to Glen for his hard work with people, especially with the youth. Mahsi cho.

Mr. Speaker, last month we had six land rovers come up from B.C. Now, no matter what, people are going to start coming in. With notice of Mactung opening up, there is going to be more industry coming up and taking more interest. I would ask the Minister if he would look at types of enforcement or having this jurisdiction of road be improved. I would ask the Minister if he would be willing to look at some type of legislation or policy in terms of having some restrictions on people going to be using this road more in the future. Would the Minister look at types of regulations or legislation in...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.