Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to hold this government to account. In the CBC report this month, the government said people in Fort Good Hope would pay less to fill up their vehicles. Someone told the community of Fort Good Hope they would pay less to fill up their vehicles in the community.

Who said that? Which department? Which staff? If that’s not true, then they’ve got to be held accountable, and that’s what I’m saying. Can you say, I’m sorry, this is what we’ll do for this mistake?

It takes a real government to own up to that responsibility and that’s what I’m asking this government, in its...

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for sharing some of the information and the costs sheets with me. You know there is a gas war happening in Edmonton. It’s $1 per litre.

Would the Minister entertain giving customers, hunters and trappers in the communities like Fort Good Hope, a six-month grace period by selling fuel at the former rate of $1.80? Would he do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you know that we have a lot in common with Ontario when it comes to complaints about government services or agencies? Getting the most grief in Ontario, which the ombudsman addressed in his 2013 report, included, ringing in at number one with nearly 7,000 complaints: Hydro One. Trailing in at second: the Family Responsibility Office of Ontario with 1,157 complaints.

It’s time to get down to the facts. Isn’t it interesting that the top two agencies or the departments formerly complained about in Ontario are probably the top two in the Northwest Territories. Let’s...

Yes, I do.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the beginning of Bill 25, I certainly also had concerns with the reporting, the proposed structure and set up, and the jurisdiction, the authority, and maybe the confusion around the board chairs and the Minister himself. I had that confused. I have noted that I did receive a letter from our chair of the Sahtu education board and they wanted to clearly state that there are clear indications as to our superintendent and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I believe the Minister did receive that letter and that the board wanted to know that, you know, are...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act, be read for the second time.

Bill 34 provides for an alternate polling day for the 2015 General Election in order to avoid an overlap of the election period for the next federal election.

I would certainly hope the Minister would be in contact with NTCL to say, listen, we have an issue here. The government supplies, we don’t know if they all got in. Private industry supplies didn’t get in. Homeowner supplies didn’t get in. Things that didn’t get into the Sahtu certainly affect our people, so I would strongly suggest that the Minister have a conversation with NTCL and say, who’s driving this ship here?

My question is: Is NTCL paying for the freight costs that are affecting my people that have to come in because the ship didn’t go up the Mackenzie River? Our highway was closed.

That is good news. I want to know if the Minister, along with NTCL, will have a meeting with the people in the Sahtu on the solutions that they’re talking about, some of the agreements that he’s talked about on the multi-modal of transportation, because people in the Sahtu would certainly be willing to listen and we want to know who’s driving this ship here. Certainly I would welcome the Minister if he can schedule a meeting in the Sahtu with the Sahtu people to talk about the NTCL issues.

More specifically, what are the solutions so that people will not have to have their materials shipped up...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the Minister had any type of discussion of an impact fund similar to what was designated for the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, what we call the Mackenzie Gas Project, for oil and gas development in the Sahtu with the federal government?

Thank you. Certainly hearing that is a treat over here, hearing those words.

Can the Minister give us some timelines for the development of the NWT Oil and Gas Strategy? Where are we at with this issue right now?