Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is certainly right that the North is a good place to do business. Can the Minister provide to me the numbers in terms of employment for people in my region, the Beaufort-Delta and the Gwich’in, the number of businesses that are used in Diavik and BHP? What are the numbers? Show me the numbers so that we can increase those numbers. We certainly want to work with these diamond companies. We certainly want it fair in terms of working with the different companies to improve our skills in terms of preparing for the pipeline. Can the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment or the Minister of ITI. I would like to ask the question on the Mackenzie gas pipeline. We heard in the news that 2007 is going to be a construction date. That is seven years away. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier how we will get our people in business or training into the workforce. There are diamond mines down south in the region. We have seven years to get our people here and some people may just get fed up and leave the country. Some people will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the two Ministers look at supporting the Aurora College in terms of promoting a position to support community-based research on social and cultural areas during the International Polar Year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member’s statement talked about the recognition of International Polar Year about the number of researchers and research institutes that are going to come to the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in regards to the International Polar Year how can the North benefit from the number of scientists coming here? More so, how can the community-based projects be strengthened and supported by these types of projects? Can the Minister please explain to me how can this be so as there’s none right now, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some concerns brought to me by my constituents. Almost all the research taking place in our region is coming from outside institutions in the Northwest Territories, specifically my region. Communities are not being brought into the research that involves them, that serves their own needs. It always serves the institution needs or the organization needs. Yet they receive numerous research proposals from institutions based on the outside, Mr. Speaker.

The reason that the community wants to be involved is that they can learn too, so they can strengthen...

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment to the Motion 2 -15(6).

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Motion 2-15(6) be amended by striking out the date “March 15, 2007,” and replacing it with “March 14, 2007.”

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to seek unanimous consent to deal with Motion 2-15(6), which I gave notice of yesterday.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My written question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

In 2003, the Aurora Research Institute convened a workshop on social and cultural issues in the Northwest Territories. Participants included representatives from all the regions in the Northwest Territories, including both governments and community groups. Some southern Canadian-based researchers who had experience in the social and cultural research in the NWT were invited, as were members of the three Canadian research funding agencies. The research addressed the following questions: How does...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sometime in April, the Sahtu will have a career fair that is happening. I believe some of the diamond mines will be there. Mr. Speaker, I have asked the Minister in terms of between now and 2014 or 2011, can the Minister work with the communities up in the Deh Cho and the Sahtu, Gwich’in and Beaufort-Delta in terms of providing opportunities for these people, the people in the Northwest Territories, to work in Ekati, BHP and Diavik and stop the influx of workers coming from the South to work in those mines? I see planeloads of people coming in and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly would support the Minister in terms of the initiative that his department is doing. Mr. Speaker, people in the Sahtu, the Gwich’in, the Beaufort-Delta and other parts of the North here are seasonal workers. They are limited in terms of what they can do. They have huge payloads in terms of the work they have to do. What is the Minister doing in terms of how do we get these people, these companies here, involved in the type of work that is happening in the diamond mines? Where are the numbers that show that we are going to get these people...