Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. The temporary solutions; I don’t know the definition of the federal government’s meaning of temporary. It’s been 10 years we’ve stored it in Tulita and finally the Minister is willing to look at this on behalf of the people in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister when will he approach these federal agencies. Can he give me a specific time when he will approach the federal agencies to start the action to clean up the mess as he said? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I urge the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development to do all that is within his power to push the federal government to clean up the contaminated soil mound in Tulita as well as other contaminated mounds in the Northwest Territories once and for all and as soon as possible. I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to make a statement about the radioactive contaminated soil mound in Tulita. To be more specific, Mr. Speaker, what I will speak to today is the infuriating federal bureaucracy that can’t seem to get it together to take action on this issue.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, a 2,200 kilometre water transportation route was being used to move uranium and radium ore from Port Radium mine on the Great Bear, down the Bear River, up the Mackenzie River to Fort McMurray where it was shipped by rail to Ontario. The waterway system was called...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, people in Tulita, with regard to the mound there that’s close to the airport, have a lot of emotions associated because of the high rate of cancer in the region here. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister report back within a month that he has met with the federal agencies and that he will table letters in the House indicating that this has been done, including the response from the federal government at the earliest possibility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister of RWED. My Member’s statement was about the federal government’s unacceptable delay in dealing with the radioactive, contaminated soil mountain in Tulita, as well as other contaminated soil mountains in the Northwest Territories. I find it infuriating and I’m upset that the federal government has taken this long to deal with the issue and take action on it. Mr. Speaker, it’s well past its time that this issue should be resolved. My question to the Minister is will the Minister approach the federal government...

Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell the House how serious this announcement is by the federal government in terms of closing the trappers' research facility in Vegreville to the northern trappers here in the Northwest Territories? I’m not too sure what kind of information went out to our trappers to know the seriousness of the closure of this facility and what impact it will have on our people in the Northwest Territories, especially the trappers. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I stand ready, Mr. Minister. Mr. Speaker, I’ve asked the Minister if he would again commit to meet with -- I know he made some offers to the standing committee -- the Sahtu leadership in terms of gathering information. It’s a huge concern in our region in terms of making a commitment to meet with the RWED Minister in terms of the social impacts in the communities. Drug and alcohol programs are a big issue for our region, so I guess I would ask him if he would commit to also meet with the Sahtu leadership. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Speaker, I find it unacceptable that this government has not made the drug and alcohol treatment in the regions a priority, given that the survey just reported in the news about the alcohol and drug issue that’s going to be a big issue with the development of a pipeline. I read in the 2000 report of the delivery of addiction services in the Northwest Territories, I was particularly interested in having a mobile addiction treatment centre taking into consideration the recommendations of this report, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak about addictions treatment in the Sahtu. Over the course of the past 12 months since we have come together for the first time as an Assembly, Members have made a number of statements about the problems our communities face with respect to alcohol and drug addictions. In my opinion, Mr. Speaker, this problem on how we assemble tends to address it. It is perhaps the most pressing issue we are dealing with today. There are a number of changes to addictions counselling services in the Sahtu. Some of them are quite...