Norman Yakeleya

The Minister talked about the daycare centres and I appreciate the ones in Fort Good Hope, Tulita and Deline. I want to focus on Norman Wells and Colville Lake. If the funding is there, I want to ask the Minister if he can give me a commitment that prior to the writ being dropped that his staff will initiate meetings in Colville Lake and Norman Wells to act on this funding so that the daycare centres can be opened and these young people can go to work and go to school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize the elder from Deline First Nation government, Mr. Andrew John Kenny. Andrew John Kenny mentioned to me yesterday, he said he thoroughly enjoys the Assembly, listening to the people going back and forth. “It’s a real good meeting you guys are having,” he said. “Too bad I didn’t get in there.” But he’s watching, so I have to watch the election close. Thank you.

I do want to thank the staff in Norman Wells and the willingness of the Norman Wells Land Corporation to initiate this meeting with the Education, Culture and Employment department. I appreciate that, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask now if the Minister would redirect his focus and attention to Colville Lake where they also need a daycare centre. There are lots of young families there also willing to look at this initiative.

Will the Minister take a leap of faith and ask his staff to go to Colville Lake and look at ways they can bring solutions to establish a daycare centre for young parents, young...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about grandparents, single parents and people who want to go to work. One of the issues in Norman Wells and Colville Lake, ironically Norman Wells is an oil-driven economy and Colville Lake is a resource economy based on harvesting and trapping.

What can this government do to help young people with a daycare centre? How can we get those doors open? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hearing Mr. Bouchard’s Member’s statement sure makes me happy.

During my Sahtu community tours, I found there is a population of young people we have listened to and spoken to and these young people want to work. There’s a huge population of my young people in the Sahtu who want to work. We do not want to rely on government assistance and income support over and over and over. We want to work. We finished school, we’ve gone to post-secondary, we did the trades training and we want to work. We want to make a contribution to our family. We want to buy things for our family...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My reason for standing here is to represent my people. This is what my people are saying. You know, where is the conviction of this department and this government? How many Ministers do we have to go through to say we want palliative care beds in Deline? I’ve heard, I can go through Hansards and bring up all the commitments that you’re going to do. Nothing has panned out and that’s a matter of fact.

So, I want to again remind this government, remind this Minister that the commitments are not there. They’re like standing on sand, it’s not salt, and people know because...

I do want to commend the Minister for the respect for the well-respected elder who passed away, and that is why we need the urgency to have our loved ones come home so their last dying days can be at home.

I want to tell the Minister, there’s a program called Excuses No More. I wonder if the staff could look at that program, because that’s all I’ve been hearing from this department. I’ve been at this for some time, you know, and all I get, and people in Deline get, is excuses, excuses, excuses.

I want to ask the Minister, can he stand by his commitment, when he said in Deline in June, we met...

Mr. Speaker, today we would like to acknowledge a well-respected lady from Radihili Koe, Mrs. Lucy Jackson.

Mrs. Jackson will receive the Order of the Northwest Territories on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, at the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly along with other recipients.

Mrs. Jackson is a lady with strong traditional knowledge, along with her supporting husband who is a full-time trapper.

Mrs. Jackson is known for her North Slavey translation in the Sahtu region and across the NWT. She is also a layperson at her local Roman Catholic Church.

On behalf of the Sahtu region, we would like to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people want their loved ones to live out their last days at home, not in Yellowknife or Inuvik or anywhere else.

People in Deline want to know why it’s so difficult to get palliative care beds in that community. I’ve been working with the community of Deline and have brought this issue to three Ministers so far. My last hope is with this Minister.

I have questioned the Minister on February 23, 2015, seven months ago, regarding the Deline palliative care study. This summer both the Minister and I met with the Deline leadership and we were advised at that time the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two documents I want to table. It’s “$20 Million Carbon XPrize: Pulling Money Out of Thick Air” and it’s XPrize wants technology to convert carbon emissions into viable resources.