Henry Zoe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to get a commitment from the Minister if he could, after he talks with the RCMP officials, implement my request as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on the issue of the Northern Strategy that we are anticipating to develop, I echo a lot of stuff that is in the Premier’s Minister’s Statement 86-15(3) that was given in the House, but I think the framework that he made reference to has a number of visions, principles, goals and objectives. It is for the three territories to develop. I am not sure, even if we do develop this Northern Strategy, the three governments at the end of the day will have to agree to the final document.

Now, in terms of priorities for the pan-territorial stuff, I am not sure if the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to see the rollout of the "Get Active" NWT Community Challenge yesterday at lunch. The three departments, Municipal and Community Affairs, Health and Social Services, and Education, Culture and Employment, are to be commended for working together to implement and fund this exciting initiative.

The government needs to have more cooperation across departments on issues where the lines of responsibility are blurred. Imagine, Mr. Speaker, just for getting out and being active, you can contribute to the chance of your community getting some needed...

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will be speaking in support of Bill 15. As I said earlier today in my Member's statement, it has been a long journey for the Tlicho people to get here. This bill is the final piece of legislation needed for our agreement to come into effect. It is the part that lays out how health, social services and education will be delivered in the Tlicho region. These are core programs that have a tremendous impact on everyone's wellbeing, personal growth and ability to take advantage of opportunities life brings. It's very significant that they are now being put...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on August 22, 1921, with the signing of Treaty 11 by Chief Monfwi in Fort Rae, my people started on an historic journey to find and define their place in Canada. We’ve recently marked some very important milestones of this journey, including the signing of the Tlicho agreement and passing of legislation in this House and the House of Commons.

Last year, this Assembly passed the Tlicho Community Government Act and I hope we will be passing another milestone later today. Mr. Speaker, a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of sacrifices went into getting the...

Finally, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to ask the Minister with regard to income support, when was the last survey done to determine the rates that are currently in income support pertaining to food and clothing?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d like to thank the Minister for his answer. In my Member’s statement, I encouraged the government to increase or maintain that current level, and although they are decreasing $300,000 from the business component where they were budgeting for literacy so business could apply for it, we would have been better off if we increased or enhanced the council’s funding in that respect. But I’m quite happy that the level of funding is not going to be decreased for the council initiatives for next year.

Madam Chair, another area I wanted to touch on was with regard to the...

Mr. Speaker, these people have no alternative solution except those available through the NWT Housing Corporation. The core need for North Slave, excluding Yellowknife, is an astonishing 35 percent. We need to address these numbers.

Mr. Speaker, these are just a few scenarios as to what is happening out there with the countless policy barriers to homeownership. My people are being backed up against the wall. The Housing Corporation is supposed to be encouraging and supporting clients' homeownership for high-income public housing tenants, rather than overwhelming them with countless policy...

Mr. Chairman, enhancement at the territorial level for $500,000; where are they doing this?

Mr. Chairman, active positions on income support under the Tlicho heading, we have only one full-time and one part-time. Could I ask the Minister where these two positions are located? I think the Tlicho region requires more than one-and-a-half positions to serve the four Dogrib communities. Thank you.