Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government makes a mention of the Deh Cho Bridge as a cost-savings initiative. How much money will the Deh Cho Bridge save the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the programs we have right now is the Food Mail Program the federal government offers. We are looking for some solutions in the Sahtu. A litre of milk, as I stated earlier in my Member’s statement, is 40 cents more in Colville Lake than in Hay River. There are other costs that our members in the Sahtu region can tell this government how much more we pay. I would ask the Premier if he would work towards a fixed target within the government in terms of saying by the year in 2008-2009, we want to bring the cost of living down by this percentage. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cost of living in the Sahtu is one issue that has been bothering my people for a long time. The Government of the Northwest Territories provided MLAs with a presentation in 2006 called the Cost of Living in the Northwest Territories. This presentation showed Sahtu communities are in the top 10 most expensive communities for food prices in the Northwest Territories. For instance, food in the Sahtu is actually double the cost of food in Edmonton. However, in Yellowknife, food is only 10 percent more expensive than in Edmonton. The Sahtu is also in the top 10...

Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Justice. The question I have is in regards to the wilderness camp that he initiated through his department in terms of initiating a pilot project in the Sahtu region in the community of Fort Good Hope. That was the community that had this program. I wanted to ask the Minister of Justice in terms of his initial insight in terms of an evaluation as to how this camp is doing in terms of what other camps may have been operating in the Northwest Territories. This is a very unique camp. I think the Minister of Justice needs to be commended on...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs, in association with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, conducted public hearings on Bill 14, Employment Standards Act, in Yellowknife on June 6th and 7th as well as on August 13, 2007, and in Behchoko at the union meeting on June 6, 2007. The committee then split into two committees to conduct public hearings in Fort Smith and Inuvik on June 11, 2007; Hay River and Tsiigehtchic on June 12, 2007; and Jean Marie and Tulita on June 13, 2007; and in Fort Simpson and Gameti on June 14, 2007. A clause-by...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The department may feel they can deal with the existing workloads and future workloads of this here; however, I heard some concerns in my region that sometimes these issues take six months to a year to get the information to the people because of the limited resources in the office of vital stats; a simple request for a birth certificate or issues of certificates of marriage and so on. So I am very concerned. I just wanted to make sure again that they know what they are walking into.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will this Minister in this government make it a priority of the Department of Justice to move it out of the pilot project concept into a firm program that could be used in our region, expand it to other areas, involve other departments in terms of having this camp be as successful and be a leading solution to all other programs in Canada? Could I have the Minister commit to me in the House here to move this forward into a high level of priorities within his department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this initiative came from the elders in the Sahtu. They thought about it for a long time. I’m a voice for them in this Assembly here. Mr. Speaker, this initiative has also been voiced to people in the Tlicho, as Mr. Minister has indicated. The Member for the Beaufort-Mackenzie Delta in terms of Tl’oondih. I want to ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, in this issue here, can this be replicated to young people that we have in the Northwest Territories and the Sahtu region where a lot of issues are being dealt with now by the young people through the youth of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to pay honour to the people in Fort Good Hope in the Sahtu region. From time to time, with our people across the Northwest Territories, it’s time to stop, put the issues aside and reflect inside our hearts. Today, the people of Fort Good Hope have organized themselves, with the support of many wonderful people in our region and across the Northwest Territories, to support families, children, grandparents and the people of the Sahtu for the victims of the plane crash that happened there last year today.

Mr. Speaker, issues that are very...

One question, Mr. Chairman. The bill is a good bill. I do support it. I don’t think they call them starving students for nothing, Mr. Chair. This is good news and I applaud the Minister for listening to the people and doing some good work here.

We increased the loans for these students to pursue an education to look for a career they can work on and at the same time, they have to repay these loans. Are we doing well in that area? If we increase the loans, are we going to do a good job in terms of collecting these loans or are we going to be in a position where these loans are being looked...