Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If resources are proven, there will be a road down the Mackenzie Valley.

I want to ask the Minister, will he commit to pulling in people into the Sahtu to have a community/regional meeting on the exploration that’s happening in the Sahtu so we get ready and start addressing all 11 recommendations from the previous meeting. I thank the Minister for that.

In front of me I have the two-page 11 recommendations. I want to ask Minister Ramsay, I met, also this morning, with one of the oil companies and they were talking about their upcoming activities. One of the key points of this activity taking off would be understanding the fracking that’s going to possibly happen in the Sahtu and the importance of the Sahtu people, along with the people of the Northwest Territories, getting ready. If fracking takes off, we need to get ready.

How soon can the Minister pull together a meeting in the Sahtu to look at the concept of fracking and what it’s going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Department of Human Resources working with colleges and students to start successive planning for careers for students who have graduated from these post-secondary or high schools?

Can the Minister advise the House and me what the percentage rates are now with the government with regard to the senior management hire but with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m very happy to recognize the leaders from the Sahtu: Chief Leonard Kenny from Deline, Chief Beaufort McNeely Jr. from Radili Ko Fort Good Hope, and Danny Gaudet, businessman and chief negotiator and good cousin of mine from Deline.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Please provide the actual cost to the Department of Health and Social Services of alcohol-related health conditions.

Please provide the success rate for individuals who have completed a 20-day program.

What specific measurements are used to determine the success rates for alcohol treatment programs?

The Minister is right; that’s the 46 million dollar question. How do we educate our people – with the high crime rates, high incident rates – to drink responsibility and have a healthy attitude towards alcohol? The Minister talked about this, and the Minister of Health is on a mission to look at this issue, hear the people of the Northwest Territories and come up with some creative ideas how to approach this business of alcohol.

Is the Minister working with the Minister of Health to take some of those ideas that possibly could help with the liquor store to educate our people, so in 10 or 20...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Reading the Department of Finance and, specifically, the section on the Liquor Commission, there is a corporate culture, a vision, a mission, a mandate, values, et cetera. I want to ask our Minister, in light of this corporate culture and one of the visions is that our customers will have a healthy and responsible attitude towards alcohol consumption, and we’ll provide them with the opportunity to discover, enjoy and share a wide variety of beverage alcohol. Since the lifting of the restrictions at the Norman Wells Liquor Store, the amount of liquor has gone up by 50...

Mr. Speaker, it has been reported that 85 percent of reported crimes in the Northwest Territories are alcohol and drug related. Ninety percent of inmates of Northwest Territories correction facilities have addiction issues.

With the usage of Nats’ejee K’eh and looking at the programs, is the Minister looking at a culturally relevant program? I believe that these numbers have to reflect a lot of the smaller communities, and a lot of the inmates in our centres are Aboriginal people. Is the Minister seriously looking at a drug and alcohol treatment program, not a mental health and wellness program...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement, I quoted some pretty astronomical numbers in regard to the alcohol abuse-related deaths, injuries, accidents and suicides. On that pendulum swing right over the next, people who want to sober up and they use Nats’ejee K’eh, can the Minister inform me that at Nats’ejee K’eh, with a budget of $2 million and an occupancy rate of 46 percent, if Nats’ejee K’eh is working with the people of the Northwest Territories?

I also understand that the Minister is seeking information from the communities and I support the Minister on the community addiction...