Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier of the Northwest Territories, in light of his meeting this weekend with Premier Danny Williams in terms of some sort of a cooperation strategy not to take our flags down, but to get the attention of the federal government in terms of our similar types of resource revenue sharing deals. What are the Premier’s plans in terms of working with the province and through the Council of the Federation? I’d like to ask the Premier in terms of his meeting with the Premier of Newfoundland. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of the part of the consultation and coordination with the communities that are going to receive these units, would the Minister then look at the other departments that need to be part of this consultation and coordination to get these pads ready? An example is the MACA sewer and water system, and NCPC for power poles that need to be in these lots, and probably other agencies and other organizations to coordinate that this is what needs to happen to have these lots prepared and ready for these units that would be coming into the communities. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I just wanted to ask the Minister about his comments here in terms of the housing that he’s planning to put into the communities. Even 118 units, even if we don’t receive any type of favourable response from the federal government, we have 118 units, as you mentioned. That’s quite a few units. How is it going to work with the communities in terms of putting these units into the community in terms of the lot development, power poles and any other infrastructure that has to go to get a lot ready for these units? Right now they’re sort of rushing the lots to get into the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the other one is that the Minister indicated almost $5 million going to emergency and other repair programs and various programs for seniors and disabled preventive maintenance programs and senior citizens home repairs. So I want to ask the Minister, in terms of some of these seniors’ English being a second language, how is it being communicated to them for their eligibility or the requirements for these type of programs? Or even the disabled. I know it sometimes gets tossed over to the Department of Health because they have to fund certain programs....

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Minister’s comments, I want to ask a few questions. I think the basic presumption or thing that the people in our communities are looking for is that homes be built in the whole Northwest Territories. The Minister is right and the Members are right. We seem to be always in a crisis mode in the North in terms of homes, how much get built in the regions and in the communities. I am very curious in terms of the number of homes being built in the North and maybe specifically in the Sahtu because, in the last couple of years I have been here, past...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I get the intention of this bill and the community that only has the territorial government being the supplier of fuel sales. That’s fine. It’s where there are communities who have other suppliers in the community or region that we are, you know, this bill allows some flexibility, it allows us to be in the market in terms of the sales. Then they stated they’re not in the competition business or competing, but certainly if somebody came to them and said we want to buy some fuel off you guys, I mean, certainly you can say have you checked the other places...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I want to make a few comments to the Minister. Mr. Chairman, the Minister in his notes and talked during questions with the other MLAs in regards to this bill here. I’m somewhat concerned, I guess, in terms of the…I want to know if this bill was taken by this department, this government, to competitive market price competitors in terms of competing with other private business in the North or the region in terms of having flexibility now in the market and buying bulk sales. You may have some fuel that could be seen or perceived lower than the private...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the ice roads are a concern this year in the Sahtu. I know that Mr. Minister had indicated some time in the past about a bridge at the Bear River. I want to ask the Minister for an update on that progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of Transportation. Last week, I indicated that I was in the Sahtu in a regional conference. One of the elders from Fort Good Hope said that the road is so good up in the Sahtu, it is beyond the gold road now. It is scary there. I want to thank the Minister and the Premier for the work. The elder said that he can put his coffee cup on the dashboard now and not spill the cup. I want to ask the Minister for an update in terms of the winter road in the Sahtu in terms of the bridge work that is going to be put into various...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the invitation from the Minister. However, Mr. Speaker, I want to ask again, in terms of the types of services that are being performed, our nurses are working hard in our centres but need these types of services. I am hoping to have something from the Minister today in terms of saying to the people in the Sahtu we will get you this emergency equipment, such as defibrillators, cardiac monitors and IV pumps, that are standard in each hospital across the North. Also, to other centres that need them. I am looking for a commitment. Thank you.