Norman Yakeleya

Mr. Chair, I want to follow up on the line of questions from Mr. Krutko, MLA for Mackenzie Delta, on the extraordinary funding that communities used to have and just hear the exchange between the Ministers and the Member here in terms of the communities that want to understand that some of the unforeseen disasters happen and communities know that MACA will be there for them and there is a clear understanding about funding if something happens. For example, last year the ice breakup in Norman Wells and certainly they appreciated the support from MACA where some discussions happened in terms of...

If I could ask the Minister if he could maybe forward where some of the regulation requirements, if he could forward it over to us in terms of seeing where things are at with the federal government and the Minister, I would certainly appreciate that. So we could possibly give a heads up to our communities that this may be coming down and somebody should look at it when we’re looking at planning or constructing or whatever through the New Deal and what’s required of them, possibly, in the future. So then we know what’s coming down the tube from the federal government.

I want to also ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The comments I have for the Minister are in terms of the empowerment of the communities to take over the facilities and some of the assets that are going to have some decision-making authorities. I would like to talk about the water and waste treatment plants in our communities and our ability to meet these new standards in Canada now. I want to ask the Minister, over time, how are we going to support our communities to meet these new national standards in our water and in sewer and in wastewater treatment plants and also the regulatory requirements that will be...

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?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regards to the time frame and the implementation framework on the Traditional Knowledge policy. I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of this policy going forward in terms of a work plan. When can we expect to see some type of work plan that would start seeing the department have some staff orientation and other department staff orientation on the traditional knowledge framework?

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister look into the possibilities of developing a cogeneration plant in the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about the energy initiatives in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories. I was pleased to hear the Minister, during our debriefing this morning on the Mackenzie Gas Project, on the possibility of how the GNWT can help the communities of Tulita, Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope in terms of the conversion to natural gas. Can the Minister inform me in the House in terms of where they are at with this study in terms of converting to natural gas in communities in the Sahtu?

Mr. Chair, certainly the Minister is correct. It’s very difficult to budget for something that you’re not going to expect. I do recognize that and realize that, however, it’s good to know that something that may happen is part of our contingency budget on any type of infrastructure. I think we also experienced this in Fort Good Hope when we had the floods there, not knowing the extent of the floods and they had to work through different departments, and even the federal government, in terms of emergency on floods in the community.

Just again, I know that sometimes, through the paperwork...

Just in closing, I want to say, Mr. Chair, that after being in Tulita for a bit there, I noticed some of the young employees of the hamlet in terms of the water treatment plant operators that...The young guy that I met at the airport in Tulita talked about going to Norman Wells and getting some training to be a certified water plant operator and this type of initiative has really been appreciated by me. This person was very proud to say that he has been certified as a plant operator. It does go a long way with our young people in terms of training them. So I wanted to let the Minister know...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, certainly the Minister pretty well knows which water treatment plant I was talking about and it’s certainly an issue here. Now, I guess, the other one is up in Colville Lake regarding the new water treatment plant and the ability for them to have proper O and M budget to maintain that new highly technical water treatment plant there and meeting the new national standard.

The Minister is correct, you know, if we do want to come up to the new standards of waste and water treatment plants, this money’s got to be attached to it by the federal government to us to...