Norman Yakeleya

There are lots of bridges, and people are very happy that the Blackwater bridge is being looked at. But I’m saying this bridge has been sitting there for about two years. It’s been sitting there. How long does it take an engineer to say, “We want to build approaches on both ends to complete it”? I don’t want to get into too much detail on the Oscar Creek Bridge in terms of the work that needs to get done there, but by God, you have to have that work done in the next couple of months. It’s been sitting there for two years.

Blackwater is not even on the banks of the Blackwater River, yet now let...

We certainly look forward to the department’s initiatives with the community; safety initiatives they could also implement from the community in terms of what safety initiatives could be undertaken. The community has some fairly good ideas about what should be done and what can be done. Some of the signs on the Mackenzie Valley road up in my region are on trees. Sometimes those signs fall down for whatever reason. We want to look at some of those signs in terms of safety measures.

The deputy minister alluded to the bridge program, and we certainly appreciate the bridge program coming to our...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly have some thoughts about this motion. I thought about the highways in all the Mackenzie Valley in the north, and I’m going to not support this motion.

I think this motion should look at other highways. I also mentioned before that the Dempster Highway up in Inuvik certainly needs some work, especially with dust control. I have seen it. That’s a whole region that has been in the dust for a long time in terms of the use of that highway. I certainly understand Mr. Menicoche’s concerns about this situation. I’ve been made aware of it.

However, for myself, I look...

Just before the question, Mr. Chair, I guess I’m looking at, in terms of this motion here, the fairness. There are some processes, certain ways of getting to the capital. You have to wait for the usual process of going through a business plan and getting the support. There are several projects that seem to have gone out of the usual process to get into the capital budget. I don’t mind. That’s the way things are dealt with in here. We have certain projects in Yellowknife here that got on the books, and they’re spending money here and certainly in the Inuvik region also.

I’ve been to Inuvik; I’ve...

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask if I could defer a question until later.

I look forward to the Minister’s proposal.

Would the Minister look at our wellness workers in the Sahtu region in terms of hiring elders, hiring well established people in the community who know the people very well? I just want to say that we do have good mental health workers when they come into a region; however, it causes some very difficult challenges for us. Would the Minister look at hiring well established community workers in our communities?

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I asked about the on the land program with the Department of Health and Social Services and the Sahtu health board. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services: would she consider taking this notion to a pilot project in the Sahtu? People in Colville Lake or Délînê or even Fort Good Hope could have such a program, inviting the department to have on the land healing programs for people in need.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The motion here speaks to allocate some needs. I certainly have driven the Dempster Highway. I went there a couple of years, and I know how dusty it is. I said to several Members that I can’t believe that in this day and age driving the highway was so dusty. It’s dangerous — very, very dangerous. I’ve also driven Highway No. 6, a very rough road also. I have had the opportunity to drive Highway No. 7. Highway No. 7 is pretty good. You know, there are a couple of spots that need improvement. I’ve certainly driven the highway to Fort Smith, a good highway. I know there...

An elder at Thomas Manuel said to me, “We have a very simple solution. If we could hire one or two people in our community, we can get the job done.” But we seem to go into a bureaucracy where we have to bring in outside workers — some of them are very good — to work in our communities. So I ask the Minister again on those details: would she commit to hiring local people who have the expertise and the knowledge in the language of our people and the knowledge of our land to work with our people in an aboriginal context that would serve our people in the best ways?

My people were very happy to hear the Minister’s response in terms of her belief in taking healing programs into our backyard, on the land. I’d ask the Minister if she would commit to sitting down with her colleagues through the various initiatives that they have. It’s not to expand bureaucracy or to add another wish list to this government; it’s to see how we can coordinate different initiatives from the different departments. Can you come up with, say, $5,000 to $10,000 for a pilot project in the Sahtu or any other region that would help people in our own way? That is the commitment I ask of...