Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear about the initiative of the joint committee on oil and gas. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to working with the organizations in the Sahtu to determine the assistance they need in forming joint ventures and how he can assist and when?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m here to tell you today that the Sahtu is open for business. There were four wells being drilled near Colville Lake and two wells drilled just south of Tulita from this past winter’s drilling season. Altogether, that makes six exploration wells and geographical programs running for a total of $56 million and 200 hundred jobs that have been created as a result of this exploration. This doesn’t even begin to recognize the potential, Mr. Speaker.

It is estimated that by the year 2009, if all goes well, more than 6,000 jobs will be created during the three...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I had a community meeting in Tulita, at Willow Lake, one of the elders mentioned the Great Bear River hydro. They told us we have the power. So he was making a comment that we had the resources in the Sahtu along the Bear River. One of the elders in Colville Lake mentioned to me also that there were alternative ways that the community of Colville Lake could be looked at as a pilot project in terms of reducing power. We have a huge power plant with a limited number of houses using it. The co-op is suffering in terms of making profits. So one of the elders asked if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Bear River hydro project caught my ear, so I want to ask a question to the Premier. In light of the Bear River project, I wanted to talk about the power rates that we have in the small community of Colville Lake. The amount that they have to pay for their power in light of the potential for the Bear River project, what can we tell the people in Colville Lake in terms of seeing a decrease in their power rates? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, also, would the Minister consider looking at the land claims agreements in the Sahtu region, where economic measures is a chapter that is being negotiated. It has been 10 years since the land claims were settled and to see how the people of the Sahtu region could benefit from that negotiated chapter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement today, I spoke about the tremendous oil and gas development in the Sahtu. I explained how much our people need help in negotiating with the oil and gas companies in forming joint ventures and assessing and creating opportunities so that we can build that pipeline and get all the benefits we can from exploration and development. Will our Minister commit to working with the organizations in the Sahtu to determine what assistance they need in negotiations and how the department can assist them and when? Minister of RWED.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On page 9-28, on the Sahtu implementation of $20,000. Could the Minister give us a quick look into that item? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask the department a question, Mr. Chairman. I was in Norman Wells and they asked about their museum. They said that it was in the government's books and all of a sudden it disappeared, and they want to know what is happening with the Norman Wells museum. I don't know if it's infrastructure dollars or program dollars, I didn't do enough checking. I said I would raise it with the Minister and I think this is the appropriate time to raise it with this department. The museum in Norman Wells is really nice, and hopefully one day I will be in that museum...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to make some comments with regard to the early childhood program. Before I make a comment, maybe I will ask a question. When was the last time the Education Act was reviewed, amended or looked upon by the Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Minister. I had one partner in the Sahtu communities who said they were interested in looking at an initiative where they can start training our young people, men and women, in terms of the heavy equipment in terms of mechanics and driving and so forth. That's something that maybe after this we can have some discussions. They were very interested, and they said we could look at this and this government to get the show on the road and start training our people here.

The other point I want to make to the Minister, Mr. Chairman, is there was a company in...