Jackson Lafferty

Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] Today, in Gameti, they have been asking for the station for a long time. We have two RCMP in the community. Sometimes, when they are in a situation, where are they going to hold the people? They do not have any place. They have a small building that they hold people there, which is not right, so I would like to ask the Minister a question. [Translation ends] Obviously, the community of Gameti has been pushing an RCMP detachment for a number of years, and I think this is a great opportunity for us. Yes, it may not be suitable, but it is a facility that can be...

[Translation] As we stand here today, regarding the Ministers, they are responsible for each department, and they also work with the RCMP. [End of translation] Does the Minister agree that the Whati RCMP detachment should stay within the region, from Whati to Gameti? Gameti badly needs an RCMP detachment to hold those individuals who are causing issues in the community.

Masi, Mr. Chair. I feel it's important I speak my language, in summary, because this is a very delicate, sensitive matter in my region. [English translation not available.] Mr. Chair, towards this motion that I have submitted. I have been listening to the Members across the floor and here, as well, Regular Members, and different analogies have been read out. I like taking notes from Members when they speak so I can use their words, as well; similar to the Premier. Either we fight the fire or create a secretariat in the North. We must listen to the people. We only have limited resources. We are...

Mr. Chair, from what the Premier shared with us, obviously not everybody is onboard. This whole thing called secretariat, another form of bureaucracy within this government. We have 5,000-plus employees, almost 6,000, in the Northwest Territories, and we're going to create another 150. Mr. Chair, obviously, I fully support a coordination to deal with COVID-19 since March. We were doing fine with MACA and various other departments coordinating with internal resources, internal bodies that can take on these work assignments. When it came to the secretariat in August, that was the first time we...

Masi, Madam Speaker. I am glad that the Minister is confident and that there is work in place hopefully to develop some more or establish more interpreters here in the Northwest Territories. Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I am more focused on expediting the process. What we talked about is: there are two years or could be less. Will the Minister commit to developing a fast-track program for development of a new generation of professional Indigenous language interpreters here in the Northwest Territories, which is badly needed as we speak...

[Translation] In 1990, we had a language bureau. There were a lot of interpreters then. There were a lot of interpreters with the GNWT at that time, but today, we do not have. I would like to ask the Minister that question: how many today? Is there any training? Are there any interpreters to be trained at this time? [Translation ends].

Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] This past week, we are talking about the apprentice, just like my oldest son, Edzo Lafferty. He had to receive, so I know that he has a journeyman paper, and all his brothers and sisters, his grandfather, are very thankful. While I speak, I'm very thankful for my son. [Translation ends].

Madam Speaker, just to continue on with my Member's statement on overall education, today, I want to talk about one of the greatest treasures in this territory, our Indigenous languages. Our Indigenous languages are rare, unique, in all the world. They are beautiful to hear...

Mr. Chair, I'm not sure how Members feel that this is not an important matter. We're talking about $8.7 million here. New money. If nobody else is going to speak to it, I want to close it off by saying that this has been an ongoing issue since March, and then the secretariat came in in August. We need to have a coordinated approach. We always have that at the beginning, and I felt that it was the best approach amongst other departments.

The Member alluded to me attacking the Premier. It's the Premier's job to defend the government. I'm asking and I'm pointing facts to the Premier. I'm not...

Masi, Mr. Chair. [English translation not available.] Mr. Chair, I move that $8.277 million not previously authorized be deleted from the Health and Social Services operations expenditure for COVID secretariat in the Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021. Masi, Mr. Chair.

Masi, Mr. Chair. This is a whopping millions of dollars here. We can't just approve it just like that. In this House, maybe the Minister or the Premier can explain. The Premier did indicate that there was a strong support from Indigenous leaders across the North. I've been making a call to my leadership. I don't see the same note as the Premier alluded to. Just wondering if the Minister or Premier can elaborate more if there is overall support from Indigenous leadership across the North, and also the mayors and the NWTAC, are they in support? If so, can I have those in writing if they do have...