Norman Yakeleya

That is where the hiccup is in terms of having these woodstoves put into some of the houses for some of the communities. They have been using woodstoves for many, many years and I don’t think some of the old-timers had to have, for insurance purposes, anybody come in there and look and say we can’t put it in there. They just bought it and they put it in, so that is where there are some disagreements. I hope they can resolve that issue, and maybe not, I am not too sure how they could do it.

It seems to be something that seems to be putting a damper on a good thing by this department to help out...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Department of Transportation has done a lot of work in the Territories. I want to speak on the initiatives that were done in my region and I want to say that the airport infrastructure that happened in my region were very beneficial to my constituents, to the airline companies. We were happy that the department and the Fort Good Hope community came to a satisfactory solution that helped them extend the runway a little longer. People in Fort Good Hope were very pleased that this has taken place, because of their joint ventures with NorthWright in terms of the...

Mr. Chair, the alternative energy initiatives that are happening around the North there, I wanted to ask the Minister in looking at the biomass energy, I know there are some reports that have been out there on the Alternative Energy Initiative and the communities that would benefit greatly. I wanted to ask the Minister if they’ve come to a conclusion in terms of establishing something in the Sahtu to help them with the high cost of living, with opportunities and to reduce the greenhouse and all the other good stuff that goes on with the biomass, maybe a manufacturing plant. I also understand...

Sometime in the first week in March, I would hope that I would follow up with the community of Tulita to see if this issue has been resolved and that people in Tulita can go to a depot and get a refund. I certainly hope that there are some alternatives in place. The Northern Store is charging fees that we, in the community of Tulita, are paying extra fees and there doesn’t seem to be any support mechanisms to help them out with these extra fees. So I would leave it in the good hands of the Minister that he has stated that in a couple of weeks, hopefully, these options can be sorted out and the...

Page 13-14, Mr. Chair?

That was a good meal, Mr. Chair. I want to just ask three questions of the Minister. I’m very pleased the Minister said the Aboriginal communities are going to be involved with some of the design and the monitoring with the federal government and our government. I wanted to ask the Minister if an emphasis on traditional knowledge would be included with the design of some of the monitoring. There’s some information that people have on the Mackenzie that’s very valuable, especially with some of the elders that we have along the Mackenzie River to look at this aspect of the monitoring. That will...

Mr. Chair, they have done some research with this veterinary program last year. They looked after 172 dogs last year, in terms of going to the communities. Again, Mr. Miltenberger said there were no programs in the department that speaks to these services. They do work very collaboratively with the veterinarians. It’s the fourth year now they’ve been in the Sahtu to provide services for the people in the small, remote and isolated communities such as Colville Lake. I know there are other communities that can certainly use this service. Is the department anywhere close to looking at providing a...

I also look forward to the Minister working with the federal minister or the federal government with the fish up in Fort Good Hope. I know there was some concern in Fort Good Hope as to the quality of their fish. I heard also in Tulita from a gentleman who lives in Fort Resolution, that he talked about the fish in the Great Slave Lake and some of the fish that they were catching weren’t quite healthy. The first time that this gentleman, and he’s an older gentleman and he could be considered an elder, but the quality of the fish that they caught, they didn’t look quite right.

I want to know if...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The number of issues that this department has to deal with are very important to people in the North and people in my region. We are starting to see some of the impacts of the warming up of the environment, some of the concerns that my elders in Colville Lake are raising in regards to climate change, especially with the weather. It is very rare that elders would stop you and talk to you about the weather. They don’t like to talk about it in their cultural beliefs. That’s the first time that the elders said we’ve got to talk about it. When the elders say that to a young...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The concerns again brought to me by the elders of the community of Colville Lake, they’ve stated to me many times they’re concerned about wildlife technicians, biologists using the collars to monitor the movements of caribou, especially the ones that we use in the Sahtu, Bluenose-East and Bluenose-West, and that the feeling that their method of traditional knowledge is not taken very seriously as the aircraft and collars are used on caribou to give credence and evidence to the scientific papers on caribou. There is some value to it. Again, it rubs against the respect for...