Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Speaker, conservation is an issue. It is being cited in the actual resource transfer agreement act but also there are treaty and aboriginal rights also, so there are two sides to a story here, Mr. Speaker. I guess I am trying to find which will prevail for the day after this issue has been heard and discussed. I want to ask the Premier, if he has the chance, will the Premier commit to reporting results of discussions with Minister Strahl immediately to the House and to the Members?

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the possibility of future discussions with Minister Strahl, with our aboriginal Minister in terms of the contentious issues and the future of our relationships with the aboriginal governments, would the Minister then commit to having these discussions with Minister Strahl in terms of how we deal with this possibly very volatile issue in terms of future relationships with the aboriginal governments of the North here? Would the Minister commit to reporting to the House if he is going to have some type of discussions with the Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning I was thinking about the issue of the caribou and how important that issue is going to be in the coming months or days in terms of our relationship, this government’s relationship with the aboriginal governments down the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, this type of issue has been heard in court, decisions have been made across Canada. There are several cases that can be cited in terms of aboriginal rights to hunt, fish and trap; treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap. Even the Constitution of 1982 has affirmed the aboriginal rights in terms of...

In terms of the resources, can the Minister tell me roughly the estimates of the resources and when possibly they could hope for some resources in terms of working on the highway from Dempster to Inuvik or Inuvik to Dempster, somewhere where we’ll start seeing some work in the Sahtu or even in the Gwich’in region?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for Mr. McLeod, the Minister of Transportation, in regard to the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I want to ask the Minister in terms of any of the latest updates on seeing this highway being constructed and progress on seeing some work being done in regard to starting the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Mr. Miltenberger listed a number of factors to the decline of the caribou. I would like to know about the impact on the caribou. Does the Minister have any information in terms of the calving of the caribou? Has this had an impact on the calving of caribou?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask some questions to the Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger, in regard to the study on the Bathurst caribou herd. I want to ask the Minister has his department, along with other independent consultants, done an in-depth study on the impacts of the diamond mines that were opened up in the North part of this region in terms of seeing if that had any impacts on the migration of or the breeding or anything that has to do with the caribou?

Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago there was a leadership meeting in Fort Simpson convened by the Dene Nation where all the chiefs had some discussions on this issue. From discussion I heard on the radio, it seems like we are still at an impasse in terms of this issue here with the chief and this government in terms of the ban on caribou and there must be some form of miscommunication somewhere along the line. Would the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs see if there is a possibility of seeing if we could work with the leadership down the Mackenzie Valley in terms of how do we deal with this issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in regard to the caribou issue that is happening right now. I want to ask the Minister in his role as the Affairs Minister, has he had any type of discussion with the Minister of Indian Affairs on the situation that is happening in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to a solid policy where people can go and launch a complaint in their own language. Mr. Speaker, I’m speaking about this person in Fort Good Hope that went to the health centre. She was diagnosed about two weeks later with pneumonia. Mr. Speaker, that is unacceptable. We had a death in our community that should not happen. That is unacceptable. So, again, I look forward to a time when the Minister can outline a time where she can state in this House where policies on people with long-term complaints regarding health care can be tabled in the House.