Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated that in April he will have some other discussions. I guess what I’m asking here in terms of building from the community from the bottom up and looking at initiatives here in the Sahtu region. I guess I’m asking in terms of what or how many more red flags does this government need, and this Minister need to say this is a no-go process here, we should be looking at something else other than board reform in terms of it moving forward with this government.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister has alluded to, the Health and Social Services budget I know the majority of funding where it’s spent. We all just check the records where this money is spent in terms of funding for health and social services issues. I would ask the Minister in terms of this reform initiative here, in terms of going forward here, that the Minister has talked with the self-government negotiating tables in our communities in terms of what is it that he’s trying to do. We are trying to get power back to the people to make decisions in our communities for our people. This...

I would like to ask the Minister, the Tulita Housing Corporation said no, the Fort Good Hope community says no, the Sahtu Regional Health Board and education board have said no. What part of “no” on this board reform does the Minister not understand? The people in the Sahtu do not want…

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I ask the Minister what it will take for this House here to tell the Minister to cease and desist on the health board initiatives from the Sahtu people. What will it take?

In closing, the people in the Sahtu agree with the Members here that board reform needs to be stopped and really looked at. Otherwise, this government here is going to feel the wrath of the Sahtu people.

I certainly look forward to the new numbers that the Minister indicated. That will be coming out sometime this year in terms of core needs that I am using the 2004 needs, so it might not be too fair to the Minister and his department, but I think those numbers pretty well reflect the needs in the community. It is not fair to the Minister to give a proper answer until he sees the new numbers that are coming out this year and I look forward to that.

Mr. Chairman, the seniors facilities, and I am going to make another pitch for the seniors facilities in our communities that meet the needs. With...

The strategies that are going to be coming forward certainly would possibly help the communities, I guess. Mr. Chair, I would like to ask in terms of the issues here we are just discussing. I am not quite fully briefed as to the issues in the community of Fort Good Hope because it wasn’t given to me over the phone. Basically the request was to look at land issues in Fort Good Hope with the Housing Corporation. I am hoping that this corporation here with the Minister is flexible enough to look at issues such as Fort Good Hope in terms of the issues that they need to resolve to build units in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the Minister for his opening remarks. I do have a few comments to make. I would like to say that I certainly look forward to the $50 million that the federal government made available to the Northwest Territories to look at housing investments. It will be very interesting to see the game plan how we expend it, how we expend $50 million to put houses on the ground in our communities. Mr. Chair, I look forward and I am very anxious to see what type of plans will be coming forward from the department to let the people know what is possible out...

Mr. Speaker, I would again request to the Minister in terms of what in theory sounds good but in practical reality is not very good for our region or for the people in the Northwest Territories in terms of this initiative. When the Minister took the Agencies and Boards committee’s recommendations on the inventory, what process did he fail to allude to the Regular Members in the communities that we’re now looking at a Board Reform Initiative? There was a gap missing there. What steps has the Minister not taken?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that he has roughly about seven weeks before we decide as to go/no-go or to go forward in terms of this seven weeks to put some discussions on the table in the regions; 70 boards into seven. Can the Minister outline to me exactly the process that the people in the Sahtu region can satisfactorily say, yes, we had a meaningful consultation in terms of looking at this initiative here and we think that this is the way to go? Can the Minister safely say in seven weeks here, come back and say I had a meaningful consultation where people in my...

The people of Colville Lake have a dire need for basic services and programs in their community. This proposal, the majority of this Assembly says yes, we will look at a model, will the reform look at the community of Colville Lake to get basic care for dental, nursing, social workers, mental health workers as right now they’re fighting strongly for it. Will this do that for them? Because right now, the way it is, this structure here will certainly deter services farther from Colville Lake than ever. I have not yet seen any type of evidence in terms of how this proposal is going to help my...