Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister’s response in terms of likely having Bear River implemented in the life of this government because of the funding source…. I’m really disheartened to hear from the government in terms of the people of Sahtu that the Bear River Bridge project is on again, off again, on again.

The government thought they could build a bridge for $25 million at the time. When they came in, they came in at over $40 million. I think $25 million was not a very accurate number. Then they looked at de-scoping the project to get it off the bridge funding agreement. They went through...

Mr. Chair, the question I have is on the follow-up to Mr. Krutko’s question to the Minister in terms of the Building Canada Fund. I have a little file here that I have on the Great Bear River Bridge project being delayed, deferred, cancelled, postponed until further funding.

I’d just like to ask the Minister: when can the people in the Sahtu look at a bridge like this? They don’t know what to think, since this bridge has been on the books for a long time. They’re anxious to hear what the government is planning to do in terms of putting this bridge in place. If it does get in place, for us it...

We’ve been hearing “very shortly” for a bit here. I’m not too sure what the definition of the deputy’s “very shortly” is in terms of the time frame. Can we look at something in terms of having the commitment that this bridge will be done and finished? It’s sitting high and dry with no approaches. My people want to know when this bridge will be completed. It’s sitting there. It’s an embarrassment for the government. When will this bridge be done? You have the dollars. I’d like to ask the deputy to expand a little more on this “very shortly” answer.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask several questions about the department here. The first has to do with the safety of the winter roads in terms of the region I represent, Sahtu region.

The winter roads have seen an increase in traffic and activity. We also have seen a number of projects happen that would improve and enhance the quality of our roads. I would like to see if there are going to be continued road safety signs; realigning the roads from the curbs, from the hills; and what this department proposes to do with the amount of traffic. We saw last year in Sahtu heavy equipment passing...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I travel to the communities in the Sahtu, the people talk about help they need at the community level with their families, especially with the elderly people. They talk about their hope that they have some support with wellness workers. They thought that when they had the Sahtu health board, they would get this kind of help. They thought that with the health board they would initiate on the land cultural programs. They thought that people in Colville Lake would get help, and they would have on the land programs for the people and the issues they had to deal with.

Mr...

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.