Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Chair, I want to throw in my comments to the facility in Hay River. It’s a good facility and certainly I would support that. Madam Groenewegen talked about this in a previous session here, about having that facility maybe be considered with some work with the federal government and our government as a centre for excellence because we have a high population of people needing diabetes awareness and programming and stuff like that, that facility can be used for diabetes services for the people of the Northwest Territories.

According to the Health department documents, there are at least 200...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the concerns that we have also has to do with the geoscience work that’s happened up in the Sahtu.

Is the Minister also going to be involved in some of the leadership, some of the work that could happen that our people also can take advantage of the geoscience work that is going to be happening in the Sahtu?

The people in the Sahtu are looking at other opportunities due to the delay in the exploration work. I want to ask the Minister about the other opportunities that we really should talk about and what specifically.

Will the Minister come to the Sahtu to work and meet with the people in the Sahtu to continue this type of dialogue we’ve had in the last couple of days?

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on March 4, 2014. This year’s performance audit focused on child and family services. The department is responsible for the overall management of the child and family services system, and the director of child and family services has key obligations under the act to protect children from harm, abuse and neglect. The regional authorities are responsible for assisting the director in fulfilling these obligations.

Many lives are touched by the child and family services system. Across our jurisdiction over 1,000...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard a quote from somebody that said, “never tear down anything unless you’re prepared to build something better in its place.” The last couple of days I had the pleasure of meeting with the Tulita leaders, and I want to thank Premier McLeod and the Ministers for making themselves available to sit down with the Tulita leadership to talk about some of the issues they are dealing with today.

What I got from the Tulita leadership meeting with the Ministers and the Premier is that we must keep moving forward no matter what happens. We can either sit idle or we can move to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to follow up on Mr. Bouchard’s questioning I believe it’s around the existing facility in Hay River. I would like to ask about that facility. Are there any plans once the old hospital in Hay River is not being used and there’s going to be a new hospital there in operation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to the House before the end of this session that the conversation has been had with the Minister, we’re looking at options, again, what can we do within the session here? I’m looking for some support, some direction, so when we go back to our communities we can say yes, the government will look at this. This is for all my communities in the Sahtu that there will be some compensation when medical escorts are asked, you know. That’s the type of support I’m looking for. I really don’t know. Maybe if I was on the other side I would have some...

I do appreciate that the Minister is working hard in this area. This individual I talk about could be anybody in the Northwest Territories. So let’s talk generalities because I know the issue I am talking about. I haven’t given you names. I’ve just said a person in Deline. I could be talking about someone in Good Hope or wherever.

So I want to continue the discussion. This could be Tulita, it could be Tuktoyaktuk, it could be Tsiigehtchic or wherever. We have people who are leaving their communities, who have family obligations, who have jobs, who, out of the goodness of their hearts, are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the leadership from the Sahtu, specifically the Tulita leadership delegation. I’d like to recognize the grand chief and Chief Frank Andrew; president Clarence Campbell from Tulita Land and Financial Corporation; vice-president Jimmy Mendo; Sally Horassi, board member; Leon Andrew, board member; and from the Fort Norman Metis Land Corporation, Rocky Norwegian, board member; and Valerie Yakeleya, board member. Thank you.

What I am hoping from this Minister is saying yes, let’s look at some out-of-the-box type of solutions. I’m really happy the Minister talked about possibly income support. Can the Minister sit down with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to say listen, we have an issue here because of the bureaucracy, because of the timetable, we just aren’t able to meet the current needs right now of what’s happening. The issue is medical escorts that need to be compensated by people in the communities. It’s okay here in Yellowknife, you can drive your car and head over there, but from the...