Norman Yakeleya

I’m up to…okay. No. It’s okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to follow up on Mr. Bromley’s exchange with the Minister and the reason why he’s stating that possibly there’s no supplier in Norman Wells, for example, or the Sahtu. Because we don’t have the support there. No one’s going to get up and just start putting the wood pellets to the fire and say, come. It’s ludicrous.

We’ve been saying that if you had an initiative to put a wood pellet boiler in one of the communities, like the Fort Good Hope new school, you would have had the suppliers in Good Hope. It would have been there. I guess I’m moving into an...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister listed a number of other programs the departments are doing to increase the understanding of Aboriginal culture. I think it works both ways. That’s the beautiful part of reconciliation and healing. I think the Minister has listed some fairly good initiatives by some of the departments.

I do want to say that the Department of Education and Culture so far, for myself I think, has done an excellent job, because those teachers go out for one week on the land and spend a week on the land. It’s a directive by the Minister. For the teachers, you have to go out to the...

Thank you. I look forward to it. I hope they have some digital. We can go on the land and experience that. I’m not too sure. I guess that they’ll adjust to it, so I felt all the time that we have a population in my region very strong Aboriginal. I felt that senior government people need to be immersed into our culture. I feel sometimes that we missed the boat and I found that, with this government here, with the Minister, we may be bridging some understanding amongst ourselves. I do want to say good luck. I do want to know where you’re going to pilot. I wouldn’t mind a time where we could find...

Mr. Speaker, I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

Mr. Speaker, the Drive Alive program has been a very successful program. It certainly shows in the records. Has this program had any type of appetite from the other provincial jurisdictions that look at the North in terms of leadership and safety on the road, trails and water? Have other governments looked at the North on the Drive Alive program to say this is one good program and we should also be using it on a national level?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions on the Buckle Up water prevention campaign. What types of initiatives has his department done to allow or to notify the communities of this campaign? Have there been radio ads or newspaper ads? How do the communities, other than what I am saying this afternoon in the House, possibly know that there is a challenge out there for all of the communities to take up this challenge and win some good prizes? What has the department done to communicate this to the communities in Dene, and French and English?

Thank you, it’s okay.

When we look at these types of programs, like I said I felt before in my statements, that the Sahtu didn’t really have a fair shake at this type of initiative. I felt that we missed out.

I was a little bit forceful in my language on our use of the diesel fuel. That’s a reliable source for us right now. I found that we need the government to be supportive. If you’re looking at the Norman Wells health centre and long-term care facility. Does Public Works and Services see that wood pellet would be a viable heating source of energy for any other large facility? If it is, then tell the people in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Welcome to this plan for the budget there. Minister and your staff, certainly, a couple points I want to make this afternoon and then we can go through the business plans in detail.

I do want to say that the challenges that this department has had to do with the diesel price increases that they seem to be dealing with. In the document it said that since 2007-08 that the diesel prices have increased by 57 percent. I look forward to the types of initiatives you will have to deal with this issue of the high cost of energy in our communities by implementing or initiating...