Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs in terms of services in the communities. I want to ask about the ground rescue services for communities in the Sahtu.

From Wrigley to Colville Lake, there are 800 kilometres of winter road. I want to ask the Minister if there are resources being looked at by the Sahtu communities in terms of coordinating ground rescue services between the communities. We don’t have the luxury of having cell phone services or having those types of initiatives. Could the Minister advise me as to what type of...

Mr. Speaker, will these comments relate to the Sahtu people and to the agreements for the proposed park that is within one kilometre of the mine site?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been reviewing the proposal for the Mactung Mine to determine what level of involvement it will require. What is the status of this review work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Can the Minister provide to me in detail what renewable energy initiatives are planned for the Sahtu region in the next two years?

Will the Minister provide to me a comprehensive alternate energy plan that will reduce the cost of living in the Sahtu in the next two years?

Will the Minister of ITI outline how the department will work with the Arctic Energy Alliance to reduce the cost of living in the Sahtu; for example, training residents of the Sahtu to be certified energy advisors?

Can the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take the view and the analogy of Ottawa just like a donkey, you know, in terms of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. You know the trail, you’ve studied the trail. It’s like putting the donkey in front of the trail and trying to make it go -- you’ve got to tug it, yell at it, push it, but it still won’t go even though all the benefits are over there. So I guess, in terms of this Mackenzie Valley Highway -- because so far now we have a goat road into the Sahtu region -- I want to ask the Minister regarding his discussions with his colleagues and also with the federal...

Mr. Speaker, I was hoping the Minister would give us the green light to table the economic analysis. In light of his kind response to the tabling, I would ask the Minister if he would give me some of the brief highlights as to what the economic analysis is saying about the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement is going to be on the vision of a Prime Minister from the past, John Diefenbaker, in terms of the Road to Resources and I am going to make reference to the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway in terms of the importance of this piece of infrastructure in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I was in on several briefings where there are some funds out in Canada that would not consider the Mackenzie Valley Highway as a piece of infrastructure that would be looked at by the federal government. That’s a crying shame that the federal...

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to sitting with the Minister and sharing the document, hopefully on the winter road somewhere, that we can have a discussion on the dreams here.

I want to ask the Minister in terms of his comments on the good opportunity and positive returns, how this type of message gets to Ottawa in terms of would we have this information here. How can we further impress upon the federal government that this is a good investment in the Northwest Territories, a good investment for Canada and how do we get Ottawa to move on this? What else can the Minister provide this House as to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been here a couple of years and I hear about highways, highways and highways, even chipsealing highways and investment to the highways. Mr. Speaker, sometimes it’s really good to dream, if only we had a highway in the Sahtu.

I want to ask the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Speaker, if he could let me know when he’s going to table the economic analysis of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regards to the training of employees and training of the departments, when can we see this department in terms of the type of training programs that will require staff members to really get a sense of the essence of traditional knowledge from our elders and how they would be implemented into future policies and programs and services within the GNWT?