Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement earlier, I brought this up again because I wanted to follow up as to what was happening in regards to Kosmos 954. You know, the chief was here earlier, Chief James Marlowe. I had breakfast with him the other morning, and we were talking about it again. And, you know, when this thing happened back in 1978, when it came down, you know, we used to have a vibrant little community in Fort Reliance, and along the corridor into Lutselk'e, Fort Resolution, and the town of Hay River, in that area, the corridor, where the satellite came down. And, you know, a lot of people that were around at that time, you know, are no longer here with us today as a result of the uranium that was in that satellite. I know I talked about this with the Premier, and it was mentioned that the you know, the satellite burned, and there was really no evidence that this stuff is around.
But, Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide us with an update on the response from the Government of Canada to her request for information regarding Kosmos 954 crash and the potential health impacts and cleanup and participants in the local land users? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by thanking the Member for bringing this issue to my attention. As I stated when he first asked me the questions, I hadn't heard of this incident. So it's always good to learn more. I always say that, you continue learning for the rest of your life. It's important. So I do thank you for bringing that to my attention.
At that time, I made a commitment to the Member. I don't know if it was the first time he asked or the second. But for sure, I made a commitment that I would bring it to the attention of the federal government. I take it to heart when horrible things happen to anyone, especially the residents of the NWT. So I did, took the time, sat down, and penned a letter to the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, that was before the evacuation. It's been fairly busy, and I haven't heard back from the Prime Minister's office on this topic to date. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was in my community tour in Fort Resolution about two weeks ago, I had a chance to meet with an elder, Angus Beaulieu. And when I was meeting with him and his wife, we were talking about this Kosmos 954, and he talked about, you know, when that satellite came across, there were debris found on his house and in that area as well. But he had a dog that some of this debris fell on, and it wasn't too long that when the dog would start limping and walking and eventually passed as a result of that debris that was found.
Mr. Speaker, has the Premier had any discussions or collaboration between the GNWT and Government of Canada to initiate further research into the effects of Kosmos 954 crash and the subsequent cleanup and suggestions in her letter to the Prime Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member stated, I did write to the Prime Minister. I did ask him for more research on it or the research that they have. The Member shared his story with me, the story of community members. But I know that there must be some research out there. So I did ask to see it. Again, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the last time I met with the Prime Minister it's really hard to get meetings with the Prime Minister to start with, but the last meeting I had was in Edmonton and it was during the evacuation. And unfortunately, I focused on the fires and the lack of infrastructure and the needs of the North. So I do assume that before the end of this government, I will meet again with the Prime Minister, and I will follow up to see if there's any research that he can provide us or any work that they're doing to address this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Premier. 1978, when the satellite came down, it was a year later that another Russian satellite that came down I can't remember where it was in I think it was in South America, in and around that area. You know, and it happened not just once but twice. And it's I think we need to you know, the Prime Minister of Canada really needs to take ownership of this and listen to what the people are saying here in the Northwest Territories. Listen to what my constituents are saying here in our riding. And, you know, it's the evidence are there. The proof is there.
So can the Premier inform the House, this House, of any measures that the GNWT is considering or has already taken to address concerns about the higher rates of cancer among cleanup participants and local land users in the Tu NedheWiilideh riding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have information on hand of specific things we've done for specifically for the Tu NedheWiilideh righting regarding cancer. But I can say that I do know that the stats of people in the North, the stats of Indigenous people, do have higher rates of cancer. And that's concerning. It's concerning to me. It should be concerning to all of us in the North. The direct reasons for that could be varied. Definitely a link to smoking. You know, it was a lot of people back in the day that mining has always been a critical resource in the Northwest Territories. There were a lot of people that were exposed to substances that we didn't know much about, arsenic in the capital city. My father worked in the uranium mines and actually died of cancer himself, so. Never did tracing of that. But there were many things. So I think that what I want to say to residents is that it's really important that you do regular checkups. And, Mr. Speaker, I hate to preach, you know, and not do it myself because I'm conscious that I'm not the worst of taking care of myself but as soon as I'm done here, that will be one thing I do is a full checkup. And I would support any resident, especially Indigenous people because of the rates of cancer, please get regular checkups. Early detection when it comes to cancer is the key. So, Mr. Speaker, that's what I'd like to say. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Final short supplementary. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
It's our last day; we can't keep it short. Anyway, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, you know, when I was chairman for the impact review board, I chaired the Giant Mine Remediation Project. And, you know, that was a really big file for us and the impacts of that, the arsenic trioxide and, you know, even it was said that arsenic was underground. There's 237,000 tonnes of that, equivalent to seven and a half storey buildings in Yellowknife. But anyway, they called it the boogie man during the public hearings. And, you know, when we were going through that process, we brought expert people around the world that know arsenic trioxide, and it was a really good public hearing and process that we went through.
So, Mr. Speaker, you know, in light of the ongoing public concerns about the potential presence of radioactive material from Kosmos 954 crash, what actions are the Premier planning to take to ensure the health and safety of the people living in the affected area and to provide support to those who may have impacted by these intergenerational events over the 45 years? And to fix that, we need to bring this also again, you know, I'm calling for a public inquiry. I just want to know what the Premier thinks about this. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I committed to earlier in the line of questions, I will follow up with the Prime Minister. I believe things that fly out of the sky are not the territorial government's responsibility. It's the federal government's responsibility. Again, it's it was horrible to hear the story of resident in Tu NedheWiilideh and what happened to them. As for a public inquiry, Mr. Speaker, on that I can't make a commitment. This is the last day of session. There's a protocol that no new initiatives unless given notice to Members. So I respect that. But I think that it is something that perhaps the Member, when he's reelected again, should be asking the next leaders in Cabinet, if he's not a Member of Cabinet. If he's a Member of Cabinet, he's going to have to ask himself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
