Michael Nadli

Members in the Housing Corporation have often talked about training and employing local community-based skill workers to deal with day-to-day repairs and maintenance of public housing stock. What is the department currently doing to make this a reality in every community with public housing?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, I'd like to welcome my colleagues back to the House and acknowledge my constituents, whether they're watching from home, listening on the radio, or sitting in the gallery.

Now, Mr. Speaker this is a short sitting, but there's a lot of work to do, so I'll get down to business. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation operates more than 2,400 public housing units in 30 communities. With our small population, think about just how many families those units serve.

Now, when you're in market housing, it might seem that something always goes wrong on Sundays or...

For people that follow First Nations history and the evolution of land claims and negotiations of lands and resources, the incident at Ipperwash opened up everybody's eyes that these long-standing lands and resource negotiations have been far too long and that there has to be an agreement that is just and fair for First Nations in terms of having a role in the Canadian society. The MSR report is complete. What are the possibilities that the Minister is considering and different approaches to help speed up negotiations?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. In my statement, I made reference to the UN Rapporteur visiting the Deh Cho and, shortly after that, there was a measure that all parties agreed to the appointment of Peter Russell, and he helped bridge the mediation and facilitation of a dialogue that became part of the Common Ground Principles, in terms of trying to bridge the log jam that existed then. The Common Ground Principles, which the GNWT was part of, identifies the fundamentals that the parties understand...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Moving forward, can the Minister inform this House as to what he thinks could be accomplished by May 2017? Mahsi.

I think I saw the Minister wink, so there is a possibility. It's encouraging. Treaties as far back as the Royal Proclamation of 1763 were bilateral in nature between the First Nations and the Crown. Will the GNWT accept the lead role of Canada in the negotiations of lands and resources?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 1998, when I was the Grand Chief of the Dehcho First Nations, UN Rapporteur, Miguel Alfonso Martinez of the University of Cuba, visited the Deh Cho and the Hay River Reserve as a representative of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which was a sub-commission of the UN Commission on Human Rights. The purpose of this visit was for the Rapporteur to take a look at Canada's treatment of its Indigenous peoples and gather evidence on the status of the Dehcho First Nations' self-government proposal, the Deh Cho...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to thank my colleagues for the report on the rules and procedures on the standing for your people on the review of Members’ guidelines. I just wanted to thank them for the report. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

I am Dene; I am a father; I am a grandfather. I am human; I made a mistake; I am working on myself, and I have moved on. I wanted to speak to this motion. As representatives of our people, we have a duty to study and inform ourselves about the issues we face and take principled positions before we vote. In general, I think it is an obligation of duty for many of us to...

Basically, these are questions that these students have followed up, so I am kind of expressing on their behalf. It may sound naïve, but they have to be asked. Residents might be confused by some programs sticking with MACA while we have a separate role for the Minister Responsible for Youth. How will the Minister work with the Minister Responsible for Youth to coordinate services for questions and proposals like this, and make sure Northerners' efforts and dollars and invested efficiently?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I talked about the need for a youth centre, so my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Fort Providence youth have identified a need for expanded youth centre services, and other community members are interested in making that dream a reality. How can community stakeholders make application to the Youth Centres Initiative? Mahsi.