Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to support the honourable Mr. Menicoche, Member for Nahendeh, in terms of his point of privilege. Mr. Speaker, when we come into the House, the integrity of this institution is at stake in terms of the process and the respect that we give each other and the jobs that we do. If there are changes made to a bill, we need to be aware of them, as committee members. If there are some changes to a bill without us as committee members not knowing or the House not going through the process, even though it may be consistent with supporting the bill, if...

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.

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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.

Cause they don’t have one yet, and Granny needs to dunk basketballs too.

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And Dene K’onia staff would stay in Hay River and feed their children too. If I had a billion dollars, I’d build new courthouses in all the NWT communities.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also will be supporting this motion and think that, Mr. Speaker, this is very healthy for this government to re-evaluate the WCB in terms of the issues that the Auditor General may find, especially for the small communities that are primarily Slavey speaking -- the aboriginal language is the first language in terms of them getting some services -- and see what they can do in terms of strengthening the governance of WCB or the way it manages claims and how it is perceived in the public.

WCB doesn’t have to be seen as a place to fear, but somewhere that they will take...

If I had a billion dollars, I wouldn’t forget the arts and crafts. Artists need raw materials and supplies and they need them fast because in Yellowknife tourism is getting to critical mass.

If I had a billion dollars, I’d support the trappers and their traditional lifestyle by buying everyone a fur coat, and that really isn’t cruel. I’m not just thinking about the Sahtu, I’d buy for all the MLAs and their communities.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of MACA to tell me whether or not any of the new money like the municipal rural infrastructure fund or the gas tax money from the federal government can be used to speed up the process by which communities in the Sahtu are getting their roads chipsealed. Or if this money cannot be used directly for chipsealing, maybe it will free up some other money that can be used to advance the chipsealing schedule for the Sahtu. Thank you.

Then I’ll clean up the contaminated mountain in Tulita while I’m at it too, because that would be cool.

Mr. Speaker, if I had a billion dollars, I’d build a Mackenzie Valley office in the Sahtu. Cabinet could help with Inuvik too.

But if I had a billion dollars, I’d fund the treatment centres so we can all get well and if we could learn to build it ourselves, wouldn’t that be swell.

Mr. Speaker, if I had a billion dollars, I’d get energy from the Bear, no more diesel generators, hydro is the way to go.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I previously spoke about the concerns for the health of my constituents and the adverse effects that dust in our communities has on the elders and other people. Can the Minister of MACA confirm that the chipsealing program in the Sahtu will continue and that it’s on track and on time? I’m concerned, Mr. Speaker, because I heard that MACA may discontinue this program after they have chipsealed Fort Good Hope. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister look into the possibilities of using GNWT’s additional resources? He made a commitment earlier to look at that to increase the capacity of the UCEP to make it more accessible to the NWT residents, especially through the student financial services in regard to the Metis people. Thank you.