Norman Yakeleya

After driving the winter roads, boy, was my back ever sore. It’s 12 hours, two days driving the roads. I want to ask the Minister, is his department looking at any other means of watering the road so that it will stay longer? I know there are different mechanisms to water the winter roads from Wrigley on up to Fort Good Hope and even to the smaller communities. Is the department looking at any other ways to smooth out the road?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that from the Minister. I appreciate the flexibility to share, because that is a very important number for our communities.

I want to ask the Minister, based on that number, are the appropriate programs there to support the survivors today with the programs that we have within the GNWT?

I look forward to that information. The Minister has been collecting this information so if I go to the Sahtu and would know how many survivors are actually in Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Tuktoyaktuk…(inaudible)…any other communities, I would know the exact number of survivors that either passed away or that have gone into schools in the early 1900s. Is that what I’m hearing? You have the numbers and I’d be able to get those numbers?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks, Ms. Bisaro.

ATIPP Legislation for Municipalities

The Information and Privacy Commissioner has repeatedly recommended that the GNWT complete the work necessary to establish legislation governing the collection, use and disposal of information by municipalities. This recommendation is reiterated again in the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2013-2014 Annual Report, along with a notation indicating that the Information and Privacy Commissioner looks forward to providing input on a discussion paper being prepared on this matter by Municipal and Community Affairs...

I have one short question, Mr. Chair. I want to ask, given the situation in the North here, and specifically the Sahtu region, are the partnership meetings that are happening in our region in the Sahtu that involve various departments still active and they’re still making suggestions and recommendations with the government, oil companies and the communities and making some progress in the work that could be done and what work can be looked at and making plans for just in case the industry does come back on a large scale or a small scale?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My comments would be more reflective of the situation that we have in my riding around the oil and gas. I do want to thank the Minister and the staff for doing the best they can in the situations of our economic opportunity and working with the region. You responded and you’ve done some things that were greatly appreciated in our region. Right now we have Colville Lake with some activity going on there. Hopefully, in the future we’ll have some other work being done around Conoco’s lease in maybe other areas. I do want to say to the Minister and the staff that you’re doing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, February 12, 2015, it shall be adjourned until Monday, February 16, 2015;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to February 16, 2015, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and...

On the winter road from Norman Wells to Fort Good Hope, just before we get to washboard alley there, there’s a bridge that’s sitting there all by itself. So, there are over $1 million in assets sitting there. I want to ask the Minister what is the bridge there for, because it has been sitting there for the last 11 years since I’ve been MLA for the Sahtu. Is that part of the highway decorations, or are we going to use that bridge? What is the government going to do with that bridge?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation. January 6th to 7th and the 8th, the Minister and I took an afternoon drive to the Sahtu communities of Tulita and Fort Good Hope. There were a lot of complaints from the residents. We went through washboard alley and pothole dip valley also. The roads are not quite as smooth as we thought they were, despite the good work of our contractors. A lot of people were asking, where is the water, where’s the water paving program of this department on the Sahtu winter road? I want to ask the Minister what happened this year...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the 2013 Alberta Achievement Tests, they talk about factors that give our smaller communities and larger centres test results. One of the biggest factors that brought our percentage down was the children’s attendance in schools.

I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in order to raise the level of success for our young people, what is the department doing along with education boards in communities to ensure that children go to school, stay in school and bring their grades up? Right now, the biggest factor is children not attending school.