Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, February 28, 2013, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 28, 2013, it shall be adjourned until Monday, March 4, 2013;

And further, that any time prior to March 4, 2013, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and...

In the Sahtu exploration readiness session, a lot of good things were talked about. One of the things that concerned me is there was no lead identified during the readiness session to work on the addictions and mental health issues. I want to know how ITI is addressing that within the Government of the Northwest Territories. We have a plan in place with Sahtu, we just don’t have the money.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about a song that Johnny Cash sang, called I Walk the Line. I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in light of the oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu, and I also talked about the people in the Sahtu walking the line. We are at the brink of having both development and protection of the area in the Sahtu. I understand the Minister is going to meet with the Aboriginal leaders who are involved in the Bakken shale play in April. I want to ask the Minister how he is going to bring this report back to us and report on it on how Aboriginal people...

Fair enough, Mr. Chair. The Minister laid out a reasonable process and path to argue for additional staff. He has to go to the Cabinet and the Financial Management Board. You have to justify.

I believe some information that the Minister has on the criminal activity with justice, I’m not too sure how that closely relates to the health centres or medical service or social services types of work. We need some kind of baseline, I guess. I would again encourage the Minister to keep in contact.

I am going to go back into the Sahtu and I will hear people on the streets talking about it. I may even...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a song sung by Johnny Cash. It goes “I walk the Line.” I believe today the people in the Sahtu are also walking the line. The Minister of ITI has clearly said no fracking, no development. That’s a clear indication not to frack, not to develop, but can we have it both ways? That is the question.

Many people are divided over the issue of hydraulic fracking. Some people think the social and environmental risks outweigh the benefits. Others believe that the benefits of development and continued oil and gas resources outweigh the risks. People need to decide.

The...

Mr. Chair, I look forward to the Minister’s provision on the piece of work that we just finished talking about.

I have one final question. When they’re done with the community consultation on addictions that, yes, people went out to the different regions and communities, does the Minister and his department look at, from those consultations and recommendations, something that he would have in place and plan with his department to implement some recommendations or direction from Paul Andrew and his people coming back to us and report this is what the people are saying? Nats’ejee K’eh’s on-the...

Thank you for the clarification, Deputy Minister. That is my point here. When? Because the Minister and I toured the Sahtu and people were quite excited about having this child and family committee set up, and we’re finding that that’s not the case today. Is there anything in the plans that we’re going to rectify this issue and continue on with some of the great things that the previous government heard about apprehension of children and how the community can be involved in removing those barriers? Can I ask the Minister as to when this is to be expected? Maybe we have to go back in the Sahtu...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask the Minister when his department will begin bringing forward plans to staff health centres or nursing stations that are without nurses in communities. How many communities does the Northwest Territories have without nurses at their health centres?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to some of the rationale and to see where we go from there.

I want to ask the Minister, in light of the recent attention that the Sahtu is receiving with the oil and gas exploration activities and the number of workers coming into the region, when we’re looking at medevacs, it seems logical that a community such as Norman Wells would serve the Sahtu region and would be more stabilized in terms of medevacs for our region.

I want to ask the Minister, when the evaluation is being looked at, that the community of Norman Wells or the Sahtu is the hotspot or it...

Madam Chair, maybe I could have expanded a little more on the question. That is the answer from the deputy minister, is usually a normal backup plan is to provide by the carrier. Sometimes that may not be the case. If one plane is not available, and another aircraft carrier is not available, then what is the backup, say, in the Sahtu region if the aircraft are not available and we have an aircraft company sitting in the Sahtu and just sitting at North-Wright in Norman Wells? Are they being asked to help with the medevac services for that period of time? Thank you.