Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of PWS, the Minister responsible for petroleum products. In the last session I asked the Minister if he would look at some way that would help out the hunters and trappers with the pricing of fuel in our small communities. I want to ask the Minister if he had done some research as to if that’s possible to give a break to the trappers and hunters in the small communities on the pricing of their fuel.

Can the Minister inform me as to the training plan, training requirements that would be needed for this long-term care facility, and if he’s working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment as to the possibility of formalizing a training plan that would allow the people in the Sahtu to take advantage and maybe require some of our students to upgrade to enter into a specific type of training for this facility? Can the Minister inform me that he’s working with his colleague to then work with the Sahtu leadership on a training plan for this facility?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also wanted to recognize Minister Sandy Lee, and Member and Minister David Krutko. They look so happy sitting together up there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Thank you, colleagues, for allowing us to have this debate in the House on this motion here. When I was reading the motion and the comments from the other interested groups it was quite an eye opener because of the Bill C-38 having an impact in the Northwest Territories. We in the Northwest Territories are going to be dealing with the impacts. We are right now in a very critical stage with our relationship with the federal government. We have devolution. We have the fibre optic line. We have the P3. We have other relationship building that would...

In northern Alberta it’s been announced that there are high levels of mercury in the moose and the waterfowl tests that the people are hunting down there now. Slowly that will come up in the Northwest Territories. Because of the new laws that are coming up North here, we in the Sahtu, and especially elders like Thomas Manuel want to ensure that any type of protection that we have such as establishing a laboratory in Fort Good Hope or in the Sahtu that would give some early indication that we better pay attention to what is coming down into our air, our land and water. I ask the Minister for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was in Fort Good Hope, the elder Thomas Manuel asked about the conditions of our fish and our food, and he wanted me to ask the Minister of ENR if there is anything in the plans that would see a laboratory in the Sahtu region because of the recent increase of the exploration and the development and new laws coming through Ottawa. Any types of plans in place for a laboratory that would check on the fish or the animals that we’re eating since the scare of the XL Foods that has happened down south? He wanted me to ask the Minister that question.

Thank you. Is the Minister aware that in Alberta people from the Northwest Territories with Indian status are eligible under the post-secondary funding program and that they are eligible for grants for an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree and a PhD degree for a combined maximum of 80 months, or eight years of financing? I repeat, this is eight years of grants, not loans.

Would the Minister see this as an opportunity for us to improve our education funding for students under grants?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. On March 12, 2009, I challenged the department and the Minister of ECE to review the SFA in terms of years of eligibility. I said that I believed that the program of our southern neighbour in Alberta was stronger than ours. I challenged the Minister to see if he would do a general overview and come back with what he found out. I also challenged him to see if he could strengthen the SFA in terms of six years of eligibility. The Minister said, “Certainly we can provide more research with our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about the need for Education, Culture and Employment to provide student financial assistance for Aboriginal students to do master’s and PhD degrees.

In 1998 this government reduced the number of years an Aboriginal student can receive SFA to six years. This was done to assist the GNWT when the federal government reduced our budget by 10 percent. MLAs agreed to this, because the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment of the day promised he would put something in place so that Aboriginal students could get the same level of student financial...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to table a letter that was addressed to Minister Duncan, Minister Ashfield and Minister Peter Kent from the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board in regard to the proposed change to the federal Fisheries Act.