Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be short with my Member’s statement. But it’s written too long, so I’ll only use two pages here.

Mr. Speaker, it’s a great moment that we shared in this House yesterday. We sent a message to women, young and old, and to also to Canada.

Today I want to talk about our youth and the safe and healthy alternatives our Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Northwest Territories is providing to them.

We want our youth to excel. We want them to turn their positive energy into a powerful beat of a drum. The year 2014 was successful for our Aboriginal athletes, coaches and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 69(2), and have Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act, moved into Committee of the Whole for today.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the response from the Minister. Certainly this would help the trappers all down the Mackenzie Valley up to the Beaufort Sea. If the trappers can get some relief, get some support, because the fuel is something that is detrimental to their way of life, unless there’s a program to get the dog teams back in place so they can be used in the communities again. So can the Minister do this within the next three months?

The Minister of Public Works gave me a very interesting fact sheet. The last paragraph in the fact sheet talks about the CHAP program. Through the CHAP program with the registered hunters and trappers in the communities, can they take this fund, walk down the street with their jerry can, go to the gas station, would they be able to, through this program, pay for the fuel that the petroleum products sells through their community government clients? They pay a lower price than the regular clients. Can that happen?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to hold this government to account. In the CBC report this month, the government said people in Fort Good Hope would pay less to fill up their vehicles. Someone told the community of Fort Good Hope they would pay less to fill up their vehicles in the community.

Who said that? Which department? Which staff? If that’s not true, then they’ve got to be held accountable, and that’s what I’m saying. Can you say, I’m sorry, this is what we’ll do for this mistake?

It takes a real government to own up to that responsibility and that’s what I’m asking this government, in its...

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for sharing some of the information and the costs sheets with me. You know there is a gas war happening in Edmonton. It’s $1 per litre.

Would the Minister entertain giving customers, hunters and trappers in the communities like Fort Good Hope, a six-month grace period by selling fuel at the former rate of $1.80? Would he do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you know that we have a lot in common with Ontario when it comes to complaints about government services or agencies? Getting the most grief in Ontario, which the ombudsman addressed in his 2013 report, included, ringing in at number one with nearly 7,000 complaints: Hydro One. Trailing in at second: the Family Responsibility Office of Ontario with 1,157 complaints.

It’s time to get down to the facts. Isn’t it interesting that the top two agencies or the departments formerly complained about in Ontario are probably the top two in the Northwest Territories. Let’s...

Yes, I do.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the beginning of Bill 25, I certainly also had concerns with the reporting, the proposed structure and set up, and the jurisdiction, the authority, and maybe the confusion around the board chairs and the Minister himself. I had that confused. I have noted that I did receive a letter from our chair of the Sahtu education board and they wanted to clearly state that there are clear indications as to our superintendent and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I believe the Minister did receive that letter and that the board wanted to know that, you know, are...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act, be read for the second time.

Bill 34 provides for an alternate polling day for the 2015 General Election in order to avoid an overlap of the election period for the next federal election.