Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a copy of a letter I received from the chief of the Tulita Dene Band to the Tulita District Education Authority and copied to the Minister of Education. The letter and attached petition request that religion instruction be reintroduced at the Chief Albert Wright School next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I appreciate the response from the Minister, Mr. Speaker, in terms of some good news for the Sahtu beneficiaries. I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to, because of the time frames -- he’s looking at September as a close time frame -- maybe getting an agreement with the Sahtu that he would commit to a time frame close enough in September to say we will have a deal with the Sahtu people on this MOU with the chapter 12 of our agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in keeping in line with the GNWT’s goals for this Assembly here, I want to ask the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs the question on the issue of the land claims implementation on some of the agreements; specifically the Sahtu Land Claims Agreement under chapter 12 on the economic measures. I understand there was a similar agreement that was signed with the Gwich’in beneficiaries and I want to ask the Minister the status as to when the Sahtu beneficiaries can see some movement or progress in terms of having their agreement also implemented under that specific...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if the citizens of the Sahtu region wish to change the dates of the spring break to take advantage of the traditional on-the-land spring hunt activities, they would then have to contact or lobby the Sahtu educational board. Is that correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today, I talked about the children, about needing them to go on a scheduled spring break and take advantage of our annual spring hunts on the land with their parents and elders. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell me whether there is a requirement by the department to hold spring breaks at certain times of the year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was pleased to see part of our northern culture come into the Legislative Assembly, such as the feeding-the-fire ceremony and the drumming of the Inuvialuit people here.

Mr. Speaker, spring is outside, spring is in the air, and so are the geese and ducks. Many of the Sahtu people are still on their annual spring hunts while some of them are already out on the land and extending their time out there. It is a happy time out on the land, sharing nature’s beauty and annual renewal.

Last year, Mr. Speaker, we accounted for over 451 people who went out on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s efforts to see if we can get an agreement signed with the Sahtu people. I don’t know the details of how these agreements come about in terms of the Gwich’in situation. I’m asking if the Minister could commit, if this government could commit, to see if that within the five or six months that the agreement can be signed with this government and the Sahtu beneficiaries on chapter 12 of the Sahtu Dene/Metis Land Claim Agreement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For whatever reasons it’s taken us so long for the Sahtu, there was a letter sent to the Aboriginal Affairs department in terms of the Sahtu wanting to enter into an agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories on the economic measures. I guess I would like to ask the Minister to advise us when this letter will be discussed, or if it will be discussed as a Cabinet decision or a Ministerial discussion in terms of when they see light at the end of the day in terms of signing something with the Sahtu beneficiaries. They’re very anxious to move on this and get...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to recognize all the judges in the gallery here. Also, I want to make special mention to Justice Earl Johnson from Nunavut, who’s in the gallery. I’d also like to recognize Paul Andrew who is from CBC and also my home town of Tulita. I’d also like to recognize Betty Quitte from Yellowknife.

---Applause

Short one, Madam Chair. The first Monday of October is the one I’ll be supporting due to the weather situation up in the region. The first week in November is not good for campaigning and elections and the ice fog and all that. So the first Monday in October is something that I prefer to go with in our region. November is not something that I will be supporting. Thank you.