Norman Yakeleya

Could I be so polite as to ask how many dollars? He said the majority. Can he answer that question?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge one of my constituents from Deline who was recognized this past week as the recipient of the Northwest Territories Fire Service Merit. This officer is Constable Kirk Hughes. Constable Hughes, amongst his duties as an RCMP officer, also serves as a volunteer firefighter in Deline. Constable Hughes, along with the other recipients, is receiving the NWT Fire Service Merit and they must be recognized as people who give their time to a worthy cause to the people of their communities. Thank you to all of them for serving as firefighters.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask the Minister for the improvements to the road licensing operations, the infrastructure type of support systems, they could help in our small communities where sometimes the contracts are interrupted because of a lack of financial appetite to operate these important services. However, I wanted to ask the Minister if that is something that could be looked at in this infrastructure budget. How do we set up something that the communities can take more advantage of? Because sometimes these operations are costly and their offices actually shut down until...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a few comments to the infrastructure for the Department of Education. I wanted to ask the department, when they are doing their capital planning or their needs assessment, if the community of Colville Lake is in line anywhere in the needs assessment for a new learning centre.

They are operating out of an older unit. They have some pretty good success by having a person in there working with the community and the older people. I think that it’s about time that this community be looked at as a community where a learning centre can be brought in and...

Madam Chair, they’re going to install a sewer tank. They’re doing it during the winter and it’s cold. You know, it’s difficult. It’s going to cost probably more; I’m not too sure. They had all summer to do it. I don’t know what as part of the deferred maintenance or what happened. The community has been trying to work with this government for a long time. It’s been years. I find it hard for the Minister to say we’re trying to work with the community to get this in our community, especially at the school so those 53 kids that have to go through this system. There are only two honey buckets in...

Thank you, 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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to get back to my question with the Minister of Health and Social Services on the cancer in Fort Good Hope. The Minister gave us some numbers, and according to those numbers cancer in Good Hope is pretty high; 20 percent higher than my numbers here than in the rest of the territory, such as colorectal cancer is 24 percent in Good Hope while the territory is 20, breast cancer is 17 in Good Hope and in the territory it’s 16, prostate cancer is 9 percent in the territory, and so forth.

I want to ask the Minister is his department willing to look at any type of...

I certainly look forward to that trip with the Minister. One of the speakers in my meeting said living in Fort Good Hope is stressful and scary. You don’t know if your number’s next and you’re going to be the one told that you have cancer. It’s very tragic and painful to listen to young people sit in front of you and cry and say my mom or my dad has cancer. I know they’re not going to live long and they’re going to die.

I’m asking the Minister if he will start plans or look at plans to have somebody come into Fort Good Hope and sit with the living members of someone who has died of cancer or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke in my Member’s statement that in my meeting with the people in Fort Good Hope all of the speakers talked about the number of cancer-related diagnosed community members and the different sources that possibly cancer could be coming from. The most heartbreaking comments were from young people in the communities on the ones who are the surviving members of cancer. So I wanted to ask the Minister what type of support can be given to the people in Fort Good Hope or the family members who have to deal with the loss of their loved ones due to the number of recent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I did my constituency visits in the Sahtu at the end of November, the community that I went to was Fort Good Hope. During my constituency meetings with the people in Fort Good Hope, a lot of speakers in my constituency spoke on the increase of cancer in that community. The people were saying that they’re very afraid. It’s very stressful for them. They’re very worried that they may be the next one diagnosed with cancer. People are being diagnosed on a monthly basis. They are very concerned with what is going on, with what is happening. There are some very healthy...