Norman Yakeleya

The Premier in his sessional statement talked about security resources from Ottawa, which future government leaders will shape and continue to realize our future in terms of the equality in our region. Is the Premier looking at resources where the Sahtu will come to a level of the same type of services that we see in Yellowknife or Hay River, or that type of services? Right now in our regions we are not seeing this and we want to know when this will come to reality in terms of these types of programs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked about the equality and inequality of residents of the Northwest Territories under the public government system. Sometimes we come to a point in our discussions where we have the have and have-nots, especially in larger centres and smaller communities, in terms of access to health care or education or just the cost of living.

I want to ask the Premier how we can in this government, in our last year, bring some of this equality up so that all people in the Northwest Territories will be treated fairly under our system in terms of programs, services and the equality...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to in the next 15 days advocate for the people in the Sahtu in terms of the equality of programs and services that this government here provides to residents in the Northwest Territories under our public governance system.

When I was in Norman Wells on a constituency visit I realized that 10 pounds of flour at the Northern Store ran about $37. People asked me to pick up some flour here in Yellowknife, which is about $10 or so for 10 pounds.

The inequality of this that we face in the Sahtu every day in terms of education because of the small communities that we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say in my language... [English translation not provided]

I want to say in my language that, really, this person that we’re talking about is really good, Mr. Speaker. In my language that means a lot, that Mr. Whitford, Tony, when I became the MLA and I remember him telling me I’m going to visit each of the communities of the Northwest Territories. And I sat here and said, yeah, right. You know? Throughout the years Tony talked about different communities and when he’s going to come into the Sahtu. Then, lo and behold, one time last year, or I think it was the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll ask the Minister if he would pursue better pricing with the federal government so that we can improve the cost of living in Norman Wells.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister look into the possibility of directing the Public Utilities Board to regulate the price of gas in Norman Wells to make it closer to the cost of production?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my seven years as the MLA for the Sahtu, I made some shocking discoveries about the electrical rates in the Northwest Territories, and now, finally, the lights are coming on. Mr. Speaker, communities are not being treated equally; plain and simple. However, with the new power rates offered by the lead Minister for the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee last week, there is hope, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. It took all of us to turn the heat up on this government to do something about the power rates.

I understand that the new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very briefly, I want to say how important the economy is in the Northwest Territories and the opportunities and benefits that this project will bring directly to the people in the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories in terms of moving the economy and that we certainly need, through this process, a need for a balance between the water, air and land and extracting resources from our land.

Mr. Chairman, this whole process is like a big octopus, there are so many legs all over you have to pull things together. What is more important, in terms of coordinating all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say briefly that I want to thank Mr. Krutko for bringing this motion forward. I realize the impact that it will have in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, when we had a discussion earlier, I understood in the whole of Canada, the Northwest Territories had the highest number of residential school survivors in all of Canada. The Northwest Territories has a high percentage in terms of former survivors. Actually, right now, Mr. Speaker, there is about 80,000 survivors in Canada right now and the federal government needs to recognize the significance of the...

Would the Minister consider going beyond the monitoring of heating oil to regulate the Public Utilities Board to regulate the price of gas in Norman Wells to make it closer to the cost of production?