Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked in my Member’s statement about some of the support that’s needed in someone’s life when they want to put away alcohol or any type of addiction. Coming from a small community, in communities the people are listening to me now, today, at this very minute. They have enough motivation and courage to say I want to do something with alcohol, put it away or do something with addictions, drugs or whatever type of addictions they have.

Are there any types of programs right now, from listening to the Minister’s Forum, where they can take their family who say we want to go...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to speak on this topic here. Someone told me that quitting addictions, quitting alcohol is easy. Staying sober or staying free from that is challenging. Also, somebody told me that when you overcome your own addictions, it is very, very difficult and our greatest battle starts with ourselves.

We have to clearly acknowledge our fears and be willing to follow certain prescribed remedies to stay free of our addictions. Countless men and women I have known have gotten and stayed sober and clear of addictions. Some of them may wonder how they did this. Well, I...

Mr. Chair, I’d ask for a recorded vote.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I respond to Mr. Bromley’s questions, I want to thank the Members for speaking to the bill. Certainly I look forward to continued support as we go through this process.

The question to Mr. Bromley’s question on the point of evaluation on monitoring, certainly, Mr. Bromley, this is quite unique. It’s doing something that is bold and imaginative for a solution. Not maybe the perfect solution the way I’d like to see it, as legislators doing something that’s right for the people who spoke to us in the Sahtu in the communities. Even though we went to four of the...

Madam Chair, I thank the Member for the question. The legislation is specific to the Sahtu region. Mr. Menicoche raises a very good point because the only other liquor store in the Northwest Territories that has restrictions is the Fort Simpson liquor store. However, this legislation specifically speaks to the Sahtu region. Could I ask Ms. Kelly McLaughlin if she has any comments?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems that we have a disconnect. The Minister is asking the Aboriginal governments, the communities, to give us the proposal for on the land. The communities are saying this is what we believe is an on-the-land program and it seems that we’re not connecting as we need to sit down together and talk about this. We do have the proposals, I’ve seen them myself and I actually passed them on to the Minister.

Would the Minister then say, okay, Fort Good Hope, Tulita, Deline, Colville Lake even, we think we have a program. Let’s work on it together. I’m asking when can the...

Thank you. It’s said that we need to think like our ancestors had been thinking. They knew the culture and the customs, Mr. Speaker. The culture taught them how to live in harmony with each other, so the people are saying we need to think like this again and that we must rely on a power greater than ourselves and that they don’t need alcohol in their lives.

So I say this: When will the Minister present a concrete on-the-land program for people in the small communities so they can take advantage of this service and this program?

Thank you, Madam Chair. This Wildlife Act is a very contentious piece of legislation even leading up to this. When you look at the Wildlife Act, it’s been over 30 years of any type of very significant changes to it, since ’78-79. When you look at the history of Aboriginal rights and title, even with the Wildlife Act in place since ’78-79, it certainly did not recognize Aboriginal rights or titles, or even have a constitution in place that gives First Nation people this recognition.

Certainly the courts have ruled on significant cases of law that give credence to Aboriginal rights or Aboriginal...

Mr. Speaker, I’m looking for a commitment from the Minister of Health and Social Services to direct his department within the next couple of months. I’m looking forward to seeing some type of policy, a direction, where this is going to happen. Can the Minister give that commitment to me?