Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, November is Indigenous Disability Month. According to the most recent data, in 2012, there were over 2700 persons with disabilities in the NWT. Of those, 62 percent were Indigenous yet the total Indigenous population of the NWT in 2012 was only 48 percent.
Vital Abel was a former NWT Legislative Assembly employee who left behind a legacy of strength and inspiration. Vital Manuel Abel would have been familiar to MLAs in the '90s as the former assistant to Premier Stephen Kakfwi. Vital was from Fort Good Hope, where he was born with developmental disabilities caused by spina bifida. He spent his life in a wheelchair but was taught from a young age to not let his challenges limit him.
Vital’s parents taught him to never depend on anyone. He arrived in Yellowknife in Grade 10 and attended Sir John Franklin High School in my riding. After graduating, he worked in MLA Stephen Kakfwi's office for over ten years. Premier Kakfwi referred to Vital as a good worker, who was faithful and positive and always on time. Vital was an avid churchgoer who never missed a service and was always the first to show up for worship. His parents were so proud of him and all he accomplished in his short life. Vital died in 2006 at the age of 32. Spiritually, he was incredibly strong and continues to be a source of inspiration to people in our territory.
Persons with disabilities in the North face many challenges, including having to relocate to Yellowknife to access supports. Often this means entire families move with children, as is the case of the family in Lanky Court I spoke of yesterday. As winter sets in, we must remember that what many of us take for granted, the ability to walk through the freshly fallen snow, poses great challenges for others. For people with disabilities, this means they can no longer go to school, no longer easily pick up groceries, no longer run other small errands. They fear fire because the simple act of leaving their apartment is no longer possible.
Madam Speaker, REITs, landlords, and Housing NWT all have a responsibility to ensure that the entrances and walkways of all the buildings in Yellowknife are free of snow and ice such that every person in our territory can move about freely, without barriers. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
