Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the housing and all the dollars that have gone to investing, we’re well aware of. Still, the point, Mr. Speaker, is that people are living in warehouses and tents and people are living in overcrowded units. Maybe it’s a bigger government. I’m looking for a solution here. I’m reaching out here. How do we get people who are right now living in warehouses and tents, as we speak under this roof right here, move them back in? I mean, there’s got to be another way than just saying it’s your responsibility and this is what you need to do. Obviously, they’re not getting it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the public housing issue and I talked a little bit about the elders and what the past historical counts that were discussed amongst the government officials and our people today. I want to ask the Minister of Housing, because of all these past grievances and what was told to people and what we’re living today is…(inaudible)…two different stories. I want to ask the Minister, in light of the federal government, he has already declined their funding to housing for the social housing programs, what other initiatives other than the...

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize my lovely wife and my lovely supporter. I want to recognize her for being here in the gallery to see us work and to be here supporting me.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today and tomorrow when we finish our House business here and we go back to our communities, we will still go back to where people are going to be in their tents, in their warehouses, and we need to let them know. Certainly we can let them know about the options that are there for housing that’s provided for them. I guess that’s one of the cruel realities of not taking full ownership or full responsibility for your issues. There are two sides to a story. I guess what I want to ask a Minister is: is his corporation going to be putting some of the stronger homeless...

I’m certainly very appreciative that the elders are paying zero. And it should be. These are all seniors across the North. That’s my understanding from our elders about the public housing. However, I’d like to go back and ask the Minister what the Corporation is doing right now.

When I go back to the Sahtu, people right now are living in warehouses and their families are living in warehouses. People are living in makeshift tents in the communities. We know right now, I heard from the Minister and I heard from the rest of the MLAs about the responsibilities of rents and arrears. As a matter of...

We are often asked to rise up and begin to take full responsibility for our lives today. We have created it and now we must take back what once was ours. My only hope is that we do we act when the time comes. Remember, we continue to be slaves to the NWT Housing Corporation’s policies and they determine our fate in life. I say this doesn’t need to be our destiny anymore.

Housing is essential. It’s our home, our identity, our place we call home. NWT Housing Corporation needs to be really shaken up to help our people to keep their homes and start keeping people in the houses they once built and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the federal government began to establish itself in our communities and to assume the responsibilities of our lives and to govern all aspects of our lifestyle by first signing the treaties and the Metis script, then to work with the missionaries to convert our people into civilized people, and furthermore, to support the trading companies to begin the first economic development programs with fur trading, slowly over the years more and more established structures began to be part of our present life today. One of the biggest single established infrastructures that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Health costs continue to rise, meaning that it will come to a point where money to maintain it will be a serious question in the North and the future Legislative Assembly.

With so many changes to our diet, changes to our water, and changes to our lifestyle, we are seeing a real need to provide health care workers and our people with early detection programs start assessing our people right now for cancer.

I will ask the Minister later on what types of programs are in place to start saving lives in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been in the Legislative Assembly for the past eight years and throughout the years there are programs and services that continue to be front and centre in our work. For example, the ever pressing matters of housing, education, and health seem to be the core ones.

Today I’d like to speak about the access to appropriate health care assessment in our health centres.

Too many of my people have been diagnosed with cancer in my region. Something is not right, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu we have four health centres and one nursing station. At these health centres we are...