Norman Yakeleya

I just have a quick question here on the work on behalf of others. We have some very bright students who are going to post-secondary education. Recently I heard in the news that Human Rights was going to hear that the federal government – I’m not too sure what you call it, underfunded or undermined – did not live up to the obligations of the Aboriginal children for education. I’m not too sure exactly on the hearing but it seems that it could be a possibility. I’m not too sure. I want to know if the Minister, within this department, has some interning students who have done some work on post...

One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the training programs. Would there be training programs in place so that if this project, again, is approved and the project is taking off, would there be training programs for the people to take advantage of?

I appreciate the information the Premier has given me. I have to save some of this stuff for Member’s statements.

One more question. There have been some movements on the Metis rights with recent court case law. What is the government doing to analyze the impacts of that case law and how it might affect the way we work with Metis groups in the future?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two hardworking people that I know from the Department of Transportation: Steve Loutitt and Michael Conway. I would also like to recognize the students doing a great job for getting a good, strong message out in the community. Thank you very much. Of course, I want to mention Bronson, Mr. Dolynny’s boy. A good chap. Your dad is working hard, Bronson. And of course, Emma, who has also just been recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One point that Mr. Bromley made mention to is the Sahtu Land Use Plan. The Premier talked about that specific land use plan and I spoke to the board and member for the Sahtu Use Plan and March 5th was the 30-day time period for feedback to the final draft of the Sahtu Land Use Plan. I’m very curious as to a couple of issues that need to be worked out with the GNWT before it goes to the Cabinet for final approval, and the SSI would also be needing to give its final approval. Once the final approvals of both governments, then they ship it over to the federal government for...

It was a long bumpy road and I want to ask the Minister, with all the work going on in the Sahtu, and next year Good Hope is going to get busy on that section, I want to ask the Minister if he could put pressure on his colleagues in the department to get that bridge. The bridge is there because of the engineering that wasn’t done properly. Could the Minister press his department to get that bridge? There’s over a million dollars in infrastructure sitting there. They might as well just bring that Oscar Creek Bridge and put it right in front of the Legislative Assembly because that’s all it’s...

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last weekend I had the opportunity to drive the Mackenzie Valley winter road with Minister Ramsay. Over 700 kilometres through God’s country makes a guy feel a little poetic. I want to share with my colleagues here today some of the things that were going through my mind.

Almost heaven, just past Wrigley, Mackenzie Mountains, Deh Cho Big River. The roads get rough here, rough as any seas. Holes and bumps and ridges, spilling coffee on my knees.

Winter road, get me home to the place I belong. Sahtu country, Great Bear River, get me home, winter road.

All the oil companies...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to say something to the Minister on the community operations. The communities are moving towards being more self-sustainable such as the infrastructure that’s going on in the communities. We want to ensure that this continues on. So I want to let the Minister know that the people in the Sahtu that attended the Good Governance courses appreciated it, and they say that was a real good course. So it’s things like that that help our people. If you bring training programs like that into the Sahtu, they wanted me to say thank you on behalf of the people, the ones I...

Madam Chair, the communities have certainly seen the impacts through our boundaries, the roads and the traffic, certainly in Norman Wells. They are starting to realize that this is not going to slow down; because words of the oil companies is that they have encouraging results. So far they are looking at the sites and they are finding it more encouraging than ever. We have a lot of work amongst ourselves to do in our communities. I am looking forward to MACA’s support for additional staff members and additional support for helping us. That’s what I want to ask the Minister, the type of support...