Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Next Tuesday is November 11th, Remembrance Day. The year of 2014 also marks the 100th Anniversary of the Great War, the war to end all wars is what they said back in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, they were wrong.

While we have no veterans from the First World War in the Sahtu, and few from the second, I wish to pay tribute to all the veterans and those who bravely served in the Canadian Armed Forces including people from the Sahtu: Swaine Bavard, Wilbert Cook, Darrel Cook, Wayne Lennie, Hughie Kenny, Stanley Cook, Tim Cook and countless others I have not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue here is this is being planted as a seed. We had some discussions in the past, and like my other colleagues, when this came up I certainly did support the notion of an ombudsman in the Northwest Territories.

A couple days ago in the Members’ lounge, it’s been reported on the news and Mr. Bromley spoke about the sighting of a wolverine just past the Members’ lounge as we were having dinner with the Ontario ombudsman. The wolverine is a well-respected animal, fierce and with survival but also very feared by many people, any animal, and isn’t it a coincidence that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know Veteran Affairs is a federal department. We should look into working with our vets, even those who are retired from peacetime or recent servants in Afghanistan.

Are there any educational credits for retired veterans that can apply to further their education?

I’m certainly glad to hear that the Minister is thinking about expediting this process and speaking to the board chairs. The point that I got was making it visible in our schools.

I want to ask the Minister if his department could look at school projects across the Northwest Territories to research and document in our communities all the vets that have served in the past, future and current, serving in our Canadian Armed Forces. All the vets, so that there can be a designated spot in our schools so that this could be proudly displayed as the veterinary hall of fame for our veterinaries from our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the elder from Deline, Andrew John Kenny, known as the Don Cherry of Deline, coming from the birthplace of ice hockey in Canada. Welcome, Andrew John. Andrew John is also my constituency assistant as an elder in the Sahtu region. I would also like to say welcome to Josh Campbell, the CA for the Sahtu, to the office. Thank you.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. Yellowknife has some world-class facilities. It’s great to see sport circles bringing workshops and clinics like snowshoeing into Fort Good Hope, but can the Minister look into hosting a traditional sports tournament in our small communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The North American Indigenous Games brought together some very strong and powerful athletes from the Northwest Territories. More importantly, it was done with a very small group of good people, volunteers. I’m very proud of every athlete that went down there, especially the Sahtu athletes, the coaches, the parents and, of course, our cultural drummers from Fort Good Hope. My questions are for the Minister of MACA.

Does he have a final report card on any type of commitments that can be given to the NWT team in three years’ time for the next North American Indigenous Games...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at the report, it’s a three-page report, and I’m very interested in this report because the economic and infrastructure report sees the development of the economic opportunities and the mineral development strategies as the 17th Assembly’s major initiative, and more so the implementation of these plans. If you look at it, the report says the next 10 to 20 years. One of the biggest red flaggers that come out of me when I see this report is 20 years is 2035 and that’s close to the year that the federal government is bringing the Northwest Territories housing...

When the Minister does receive the final report, that will be shared, obviously, on this side with the Members so we can improve our next participation.

With our athletes going down to the North American Indigenous Games, it was a great experience for the youth to have. It is events like these that have the cultural component that help our youth become leaders of tomorrow. We will need strong and powerful leaders to stand for us.

Can the Minister tell us how the department is helping the Aboriginal Sport Circle and Sport North in creating a coaching program for our smaller communities?