Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Madam Speaker. With the Minister continuing to travel into the communities, hopefully one day he will be able to drive into our communities. The Sahtu is having an annual gathering in August in Colville Lake. I would invite the Minister to that meeting and have a meeting there with the people. Would the Minister consider looking at this type of meeting with our people in terms of bringing the solution to the Sahtu who know the solution: Build the road that can be done over a number of years by using a community approach method and connect all the communities in the Sahtu before...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I believe that the preservation of language is a critical issue for aboriginals of the Northwest Territories. A sustainable territory requires the sustainability of the land, the languages and the cultures of the aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Territories. There are aboriginal groups across North America, including Canada, producing aboriginal language developmental toys that reflect their unique language and culture as part of their language preservation and revitalization programs. One can’t overemphasize the importance of having our own...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, not understanding the process fully, Madam Speaker, the people in my region I represent say the money we had made from liquor stores, off-sales and the bars is a huge amount of money. Yet when we go into the communities and ask for treatment programs or programs that would help people such as for FAS or behavioural issues we were just talking about, why is it that we cannot put more money into programs because of damages that the alcohol is doing to our communities and our regions? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Finance and FMBS, the Honourable Floyd Roland. Madam Speaker, I understand from newspaper reports that liquor revenue that came out of the Northwest Territories last year was $36 million and I wanted to ask the Minister if there was any plans within the government to see how this money could be put back into the regions that desperately need programs such as the TTC and alcohol and drug programs. Could some of this money from the liquor revenue fund go back into the regions that need the help? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Premier is correct in terms of our willingness to involve other northern representatives in our government. We have shown some great leadership by the Cabinet and the leader of the government here, in terms of involving the northern people in our decisions as 19 Members of the Legislative Assembly.

I guess the extra step here is to go a little further in terms of having, like the federal government, a process where we can investigate and see where can northern people, aboriginal governments….because it truly is a government-to-government...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my question is to the Premier of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Handley. In light of the recent news reports this morning with the federal government, Cabinet and the Assembly of First Nations members meeting, it is the first time I think in history that AFN is having a meeting with the federal Cabinet in Ottawa. Would the Minister consider having something along that line, similar to our Cabinet and the aboriginal organization's governments in the Northwest Territories, within the life of this Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. That’s good news with regard to retaining the professional people in the Sahtu. Has the Minister’s department looked at giving some consideration to some organizations in the Sahtu to build affordable units for the professionals in terms of the programs that they can offer to these organizations that would attract professionals? Some of the health workers are unable to come into the Sahtu because some houses are not available. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the NWT Housing Corporation in terms of the professional housing situation in the Sahtu. I understand there might be some movement in terms of retaining some of our professional people in the Sahtu. Also, the issue of housing is still an issue that I’d like to pursue with the Minister. Is the Housing Corporation doing all it can to retain or attract professional people in our regions in terms of the education field or the health field? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The funding model that the Minister has alluded to, also speaking to the tourism industry I guess my question is not so much the tourism industry but what types of discussions is he having with the aboriginal governments in the regions in terms of this model? It may have some consequences to the land claim settlements in some of the regions that have settled the comprehensive land claims. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, from the Minister’s statement on tourism in the Northwest Territories, he made reference to the millions of dollars being spent in the Northwest Territories. I wonder if the Minister could tell me how many dollars were kept in the Northwest Territories. They may have spent millions of dollars in the Northwest Territories but in a rough estimate, how many dollars were kept in the Northwest Territories as a result of the figures that he has given us? Thank you.