Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the honourable Minister Brendan Bell in regards to the correction services and specifically the wilderness camps that we talked about in previous sessions. I want to ask the Minister, will he inform the House in terms of this progress in terms of establishing wilderness camps in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning I was reading a book and I read a quote in there from Ralph Waldo Emerson, I think. He said in the quote, what lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. That quote struck a chord into this statement that I’m going to read today in regards to a close friend of the Sahtu and the people in Yellowknife at the Legislative Assembly.

I want to pay tribute to Vital Manuel, who passed away on the 19th of January at the young age of 32 years old. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for your kind words in...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s willingness to look at new models within the Northwest Territories specifically now a focus on the Sahtu region and also the other regions that have asked for it. In the Sahtu, I know there are a lot of concerns in regards to the complexity. I wanted to ask the Minister if he could provide some updates to me in terms of how that progression is going on. I think we have identified one camp person that may be considered for this new model. Would the Minister provide me with some update as to that progress within the Sahtu?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize an important resident in the Sahtu now living in Yellowknife, an artist, Antoine Mountain; and also, I am not too sure if she is behind me, Ms. Cindy Gill, also from Deline who is importing to Yellowknife now. Two treasures we lost to Yellowknife. Thank you.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I tabled a letter from the Colville Lake District Education Authority on October 18, 2005, in the House. That letter outlined several concerns that the district education authority has with the adequacy of the program space, classrooms and lack of sanitary facilities in the Colville Lake school.

There are 41 people, 36 students and five staff, in that building approved for an occupancy load for 40 people. One room teaches kindergarten to Grade 12. The lack of space is such that one teacher teaches in the cloakroom, just a few feet away from the honey...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe if the Minister sat down with the people in Colville Lake, we would beg to differ on the issue of public safety and the use of that school. Mr. Speaker, the chair of the Sahtu Divisional Education Council wrote a strong letter regarding the school in Colville Lake and the lack of proper facilities to have a proper learning environment. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the Minister in terms of his strong advocacy of having graduates in the communities. The Minister is making the commitment to visit Colville Lake. Can he visit by the end of this month? This is an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have always said that the community of Colville Lake is a long way out of Yellowknife; it's far away. So sometimes it's out of sight, out of mind, for the people in Colville Lake. If they want to maintain a traditional economy, I support them 100 percent. For a traditional lifestyle, I support them 100 percent. But it's unacceptable, in this day and age, when we have education facilities such as are built in and around the Northwest Territories, that we cannot fix Colville Lake in terms of the use of the honey bucket. Can the Minister tell us, short of moving...