Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the treatment centre motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, November 1, 2004, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that the government establish a centre in the NWT dedicated to treating addictions to drugs other than alcohol;

And further that the government establish an addictions treatment centre specifically for youth;

And furthermore that the government reopen residential treatment centres in Yellowknife and Inuvik.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will seek unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me whether the recent review of the disabled services in the Northwest Territories investigated the delivery of services at the community level? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister listing off a number of services and programs available for people who are disabled in the smaller communities. Mr. Speaker, I understand that in some of the smaller communities, the staff is so limited and possibly so overworked that they have very little time to look after the needs of people who are disabled. Can the Minister tell me specifically as to how much time is given to the people who are disabled by the Health and Social Services staff? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, growing up in Fort Norman as a young boy I first began to notice that not all people are born the same. Mr. Speaker, it was my grandfather who taught me this. You see, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Noel Gladue, my grandfather, was in his latest stages of his life as being labelled “normal person” as I saw him as a young boy. Mr. Speaker, shortly after that, my grandfather was confined to his wheelchair until he passed away in the early '80s.

Mr. Speaker, I watched on CBC last night about a young boy who was born disabled, and yet he made great strides to live his...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when he has this social envelope meeting with the other Ministers, would the Minister commit to possibly looking at bringing some other people from the communities in terms of maybe looking at a solution in the North? I know we can deal with this issue in the Northwest Territories. That can be done. We could pull our people together; they are smart. I believe that the Minister wants to have that happen also, so would he look at possibly bringing in some people from the communities to look at this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand the process that the Department of Health and Social Services has taken over the years in terms of getting community wellness workers in the communities. Can the Minister provide some type of report card and see how effective these workers are in terms of combating the drug and alcohol issues? It seems like it is on the increase, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier assure me that there will be a process set up for coordination amongst the departments that will have a role to play in implementing the economic measures chapter? For example, Aboriginal Affairs, RWED, Education, Culture and Employment, Public Works and Services, and FMBS. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the economic measures chapter of the Sahtu Land Claim Agreement and how businesses and people in the Sahtu do not feel that this territorial government is living up to its obligations under this chapter. It’s very disappointing for my people to see the government taking 11 years to work on this chapter here. My question is to the Premier. Would the Premier be willing to meet with the Sahtu people to hear about their concerns and disagreement about the economic measures chapter and to work with them to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting the passage of Bill 13. The reason I am supporting it is very simple. If the government has to find resources from within to find funds that aren’t approved here today, our communities will suffer. As an MLA, it’s a choice I have to make. That’s our responsibility to our communities. I can’t blame the government or anybody else. I am responsible here. So the roll of the dice says I have to vote yes. That’s what I am doing to support this bill.

At the same time, we are learning the process as working MLAs. We see how things move and some of my...