Norman Yakeleya

So, Minister, and Mr. Chair, that’s for all of the Northwest Territories, because we certainly heard it in the budget dialogue that we need revenue, and if you have revenue to do things that we want to do, that will certainly help us.

I just wanted to make a last pitch for the Aboriginal business people in the region, the ones that have the ma and pa type of tourism lodges. You know, we want the best for them. They’ve put sweat and equity into that business and at times it’s quite expensive to bring people out to those lodges, but when they get out to those lodges they sure love the country...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to know from the Minister in regards to the legal aid services in our smaller communities, regions. I know I spoke to the Minister earlier in the year on an issue that came up in my riding and the Minister responded with some of the issues the department has to deal with.

I’m more concerned with the quality of the services provided to my constituents when they have to go to court and the quality and the quantity of time with their legal aid counsel. Is the policy to have a number of lawyers in each community when they have a court hearing? I think the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people really appreciate the Minister coming on the Sahtu winter roads and seeing it for himself. The previous Minister came on the winter road, too, drove the 700 and some-odd kilometres. I think we need to have some of our people here, some of the Ministers and people here just to take a drive on these winter roads just to experience it, to know what we’re talking about. It’s really strange to sit here and talk about it without first experiencing and knowing what people, day in and day out, go through on the Sahtu winter roads.

I want to thank the department and...

After driving the winter roads, boy, was my back ever sore. It’s 12 hours, two days driving the roads. I want to ask the Minister, is his department looking at any other means of watering the road so that it will stay longer? I know there are different mechanisms to water the winter roads from Wrigley on up to Fort Good Hope and even to the smaller communities. Is the department looking at any other ways to smooth out the road?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that from the Minister. I appreciate the flexibility to share, because that is a very important number for our communities.

I want to ask the Minister, based on that number, are the appropriate programs there to support the survivors today with the programs that we have within the GNWT?

I look forward to that information. The Minister has been collecting this information so if I go to the Sahtu and would know how many survivors are actually in Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Tuktoyaktuk…(inaudible)…any other communities, I would know the exact number of survivors that either passed away or that have gone into schools in the early 1900s. Is that what I’m hearing? You have the numbers and I’d be able to get those numbers?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks, Ms. Bisaro.

ATIPP Legislation for Municipalities

The Information and Privacy Commissioner has repeatedly recommended that the GNWT complete the work necessary to establish legislation governing the collection, use and disposal of information by municipalities. This recommendation is reiterated again in the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2013-2014 Annual Report, along with a notation indicating that the Information and Privacy Commissioner looks forward to providing input on a discussion paper being prepared on this matter by Municipal and Community Affairs...

I have one short question, Mr. Chair. I want to ask, given the situation in the North here, and specifically the Sahtu region, are the partnership meetings that are happening in our region in the Sahtu that involve various departments still active and they’re still making suggestions and recommendations with the government, oil companies and the communities and making some progress in the work that could be done and what work can be looked at and making plans for just in case the industry does come back on a large scale or a small scale?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My comments would be more reflective of the situation that we have in my riding around the oil and gas. I do want to thank the Minister and the staff for doing the best they can in the situations of our economic opportunity and working with the region. You responded and you’ve done some things that were greatly appreciated in our region. Right now we have Colville Lake with some activity going on there. Hopefully, in the future we’ll have some other work being done around Conoco’s lease in maybe other areas. I do want to say to the Minister and the staff that you’re doing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have opening comments to the Minister recognizing that this is an operational and maintenance budget. I’m hoping to put another plug in, I know it’s not time for infrastructure but I will still continue with my consistent plea for an RCMP presence more consistently and maybe permanently in the communities without a detachment. For example, Colville Lake. I know the department is working on that with the Fort Good Hope detachment and doing their best to make sure the presence is in Fort Good Hope. I’m going to just remind the Minister that I will continue until our...