Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the quality of health services delivered in my riding of Nahendeh. Specifically I want to speak about how these services are provided to our elders.

I share my colleagues Mr. Yakeleya and Mr. Jacobson’s concerns that people are not being examined properly and are being misdiagnosed. We know that as we age, our bodies require more care, we need to see the doctor more often, and we need health professionals to take us seriously when we say that something is wrong. We may not be able to diagnose ourselves, but we know our bodies...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That’s the type of rhetoric I’ve been hearing, is planning, and studying, and looking at it. I’d like to ask the Minister when will the Minister and this government make the regions and small communities a priority when it comes to schooling. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I know that the priority of this government and the past government in the 15th Legislative Assembly were concentrating on big schools, and more recently like a super school in Inuvik at a cost of $100 million. I think in our small, remote communities this government should start making it a priority. There are small costs involved. Just off the top of my head, from a bird’s eye view I would estimate about $3 million and downwards for a small school to serve the needs of small communities. I’d like to ask the Minister about making this a priority of the government; put it...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We always tell our young people that they need to get a good education and that is the key to their success, but the examples we set are not always good. I refer, for example, to the school in Nahanni Butte. It’s an old log building that needs to be replaced. We have to get this into the capital plan.

I wish I could refer to the school in Trout Lake, as well, but the situation is even worse in Nahanni Butte. In Trout Lake, technically that is not a school at all. No school. The people of Trout Lake send their kids to the recreation centre for classes. This has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the GNWT suspend devolution negotiations for 12 months, or until such time as a general agreement to proceed has been reached;

And further, to accomplish this goal, that the GNWT establish an Aboriginal devolution commission, comprised of representatives of all the NWT’s Aboriginal governments of land claim organizations;

And furthermore, that the Aboriginal...

With the communities of Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte, how much pre-planning work has been done? How much dedication and effort has the department put towards these communities in terms of planning, costing it out, even a Class D estimate for these two communities? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education some questions with regard to capital planning in the communities of Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. As I said in my Member’s statement, time and time again I’ve stood up here and I’ve asked the Minister to look at Trout Lake and their need for a school, a new stand-alone school, and I’d like to ask the Minister what he has done to date and what kind of planning is happening with regard to the community of Trout Lake and a new school. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize the courage and compassion of Pearl Norwegian, her sister Carol Norwegian, brother Joey Klein, niece Shanta Ansdell, and nephew Mark Ansdell for walking from Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.

---Applause

Earlier this month, Pearl and her family walked 125 kilometres between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic. Pearl’s mother, Therese Remy Sawyer, also known as Terry Norwegian, died of cancer last year but not before she, herself, had completed the walk in 2006. Pictures of the walk show her smiling the...

I believe that, like my colleagues have previously indicated, there are other pieces of legislation that do have this clause and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be in here. I could be corrected, but I don’t think the Minister disagreed either. He’s just saying wait until later. Unfortunately, we’re late into our government and any guarantees for the 17th Assembly is not guaranteed either, because priorities change, et cetera. For myself, as well, overarching legislation to have this clause to affect all the other clauses can be done, and I certainly look forward to that. However, I believe that...

I’d like to know as well as our health professionals out there, is that specific to their job description, trauma, and/or is there training available to them?