Norman Yakeleya

Thank you. In the Sahtu region, there is a high rate of families that are not working today that are looking for work. A lot of these families would love to pursue a lifestyle on the land.

I ask the Minister, has he had any type of discussion yet as to what type of activities or programs could be looked at to support young families who are not working, who want to go on the land? Is there any type of family harvesting assistance program for these young people?

Mr. Speaker, the leadership certainly, again, wanted to show its appreciation to Premier McLeod and the Cabinet Ministers for making themselves available to talk about some of these important issues.

The Inuvik region companies have a big role in the design and the construction of the Inuvik-Tuk highway and local residents and businesses are benefiting a lot from the construction.

Does the Minister support a similar approach for the Mackenzie Valley Highway to make sure that local companies and residents benefit from the future construction of this Mackenzie Valley Highway?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the update from the Minister. My constituents have duly noted the importance of the Mackenzie Valley Highway coming into the Sahtu. They want to know what’s been done. They’ve been having their meetings and have been making suggestions to the Minister. They want to know what’s been done to keep the momentum going with the Mackenzie Valley Highway so that they can start the construction on this road.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The issue here is a comment that was made by an elder in Fort Good Hope that was hoping that sometime in the future I would make a request here that the department considers looking at setting up a lab in the Sahtu, given the issues that we’re faced with today and the environmental, especially with the water issue just recently with Imperial Oil. So, Imperial Oil seeking a water licence in the amount of reusable water that’s going back into the Mackenzie River and that the elder in Fort Good Hope strongly commented to me how we would like to see a laboratory in the Sahtu...

In our region, Norman Wells has the highest rate of employment and the lowest rate of unemployment because they’re working. We have a high rate in the other communities of unemployment. Income assistance is showing that we’re spending millions of dollars to support people in subsidy programs. Businesses are ready. We have now 28 Aboriginal businesses compared to 60 in 2006.

Building infrastructure in the Northwest Territories is key. We have unprecedented industrial interest in the Sahtu region. As Mr. Ramsay said, two to three billion barrels of oil is ready to be taken out. Communities want...

Mr. Chair, this motion talks about taking $114,000 from this activity and saying we will buy it ourselves within government. Take it from this pot and we’ll take it from the Right from the Start pot. Because of our philosophical and political issues, we say we don’t want to say to the corporate world thank you but we’ll fund it ourselves, we have enough money. Mahsi, but that’s okay. That’s what it’s saying, because of the philosophical issues of how we see the corporate social responsibility what they’re doing and because we need some more discussions as to government has always been...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the health and social services authorities, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Services, should regularly assess whether the services they provide to children and families are in compliance with the Child and Family Services Act and the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual; and further, that the results of these assessments be used to improve compliance and be shared with the director of child and family services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I move that the health and social services authorities comply with the Child and Family Services Act and the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual in their delivery of services to children and families; – Madam Chair, we are just getting the motion handed out because there was a typo, so we are just handing out the motion – and further, that health and social services authorities ensure the key requirements are met when:

investigating concerns about child safety and well-being;

providing protective services for children to address and confirm child protection needs;

providing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the health and social services authorities, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Services, develop a tool to ensure that longer-term risks to children are formally assessed to determine a child’s safety as required under the Child and Family Services Act; and further, that this tool be ready for use by front-line workers within the current fiscal year; and furthermore, to expedite the process the department look to other jurisdictions for guidance. Thank you.