Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is also for Minister Floyd Roland on the budget address. On page 8 and 9, he listed four key points in terms of the second condition necessary to achieve…(inaudible)..in the Northwest Territories. I wanted to ask for some clarification. In his address, he talked about the reports by the expert panel and we are in the hands of the federal government in terms of how we control the finances we are going to have. How will the Minister make our position in the Government of the Northwest Territories well known to the federal government in terms...

…earn Canadian respect as full and equal partners in Confederation, but the poor homeowners whose treasures are sold out from under them are forced to live from paycheque to paycheque and watch our resources disappear. We have little but any say in how much is sold at what price and under what condition.

Mr. Speaker, there is hope. A new guy has arrived in town -- president-elect Steven Harper and the Conservative government. Hopefully, they will be willing to listen and finally give the Northwest Territories the authority to manage our household responsibilities for future generations. I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member’s statement is financing our own home. Mr. Speaker, they’re saying that what is mine is mine and what is yours is mine. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to draw some parallels between somebody trying to finance their own household and this government trying to manage its own castle.

Mr. Speaker, now suppose that we live in one side of town and we have a whole bunch of hidden treasures in our home, and on the other side of town you have a wealthy uncle with a much bigger house, possibly a palace on the other side of town. However, you’re in one community. But...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the Government of the Northwest Territories, specifically the honourable Member, Mr. Bell, in terms of his support to fund this, as well as the Department of Indian Affairs. I want to ask again, would the Minister, in terms of following up with the socio-economic conference, how are the departments going to be getting together? There needs to be some quick communication in putting this action plan together for the socio-economic impacts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there may be a new chef in the kitchen, but the same old recipe is being cooked up and it's just a different means of cooking up that recipe. I want to ask the Finance Minister in terms of his opening address and on one of the points, his last point was point four in terms of the arbitrating of the $300 million borrowing limit. Our government stated saying we need a territorial political autonomy. How do we get that? You know, Alberta won't stand for that. Other governments won't stand for it. You know, the Territories shouldn't stand for it. So how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I support the Minister in terms of his process to getting the attention of the federal Minister or the federal government. However, business case after business case, doing things very politely and that's good. Northerners, that what we tend to do. I think enough is enough and we can get the attention of the federal government that needs to pay attention. So I think there has to be some more radical steps considered in terms of getting the attention of Ottawa. So in that sense, I want to ask the Minister how or what type of measures is he going to use...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a former constituent in the Sahtu, Mr. Donnie Roberts who is now in the Gwich’in area, former social worker in our region. Thank you.

---Applause

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the discussions and the MOU would be honoured as long as the agreement is still in force with the federal government and the territorial government in terms of MOUs, as long as this agreement should last within our lifetime? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say a thank you to the Minister in terms of taking this initiative to look at new initiatives developed by the people in the Sahtu region and the Northwest Territories in terms of implementing this type of program in our own communities and regions for our own people. I want to ask the Minister, of all the issues that we have to look at with this new model, would he look at taking some people from my region to look at other models that maybe have similar programs in southern Canada in terms of getting some feedback on some of the other...