Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Transportation. I’d like to talk to the Minister about the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The Minister has a proposal called Corridors for Canada III. I want to ask the Minister if there’s any type of signal or indication on the efforts on the part of the Government of the Northwest Territories, as to where that proposal is within the Government of Canada to see what type of support we’ll have to start building that important highway.

Thank you. With this idea that the Minister is putting out there, would he be able to, within this fiscal year, direct his staff to work with the other departments such as Justice, Health and Social Services, and Education, Culture and Employment to look at a new structure of a program through their working groups or the committees in the Sahtu to say this is something that’s unique, it’s different, where we can support these younger adults that want to learn about trapping and their way of life?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. Yesterday we talked about education with Minister Lafferty, and another view of education is with the hunters and trappers in the Sahtu region. I want to ask the Minister of ITI what types of programs we have for our on-the-land professors who want to take out young students to train them how to be a good hunter and trapper, and also to be a good person.

What kinds of programs are there that young people can apply for and what types of programs are there for the elders and trappers to take these young people on the land to sustain...

I just want to thank the mover and the seconder on this motion here. We’re talking about education, which has been a long-standing issue in this government. This is not something new. Over the years, as an MLA, and as the Minister is well aware – this issue is not new to him – we’ve been talking about the quality of education for a long time. Whether it’s in Yellowknife or it’s in the small communities such as Colville Lake, we’ve been talking about the quality of our education and the quality of our certificates that we give our Grade 12 students, called diplomas.

When I read that we’re the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think one of the most effective ways is to lobby, to go down face-to-face with your partners to show the benefits of the Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley further up north. I want to ask the Minister, is that something the Members will have some input on as to what type of lobbying will seek the most benefit from our proposal in Corridors III.

We talked earlier about the increase of oil and gas in the Sahtu and I want to ask the Minister if he has had any type of preliminary discussions with his federal counterparts to see that this important proposal seeks a favourable response so we can start developing the resources in the Sahtu in a responsible manner and that the Mackenzie Valley Highway is a must for the people in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know the government is going to be entertaining some of the main estimates in the next couple of months. Is this something that the Minister can foresee that it’s something where we could have some of these discussions within the main estimates?

The Take a Kid Program is one of the most successful programs that I’ve witnessed in this government. It’s a good program; however, it’s geared towards high school students. I would like to ask the Minister what about the students who are outside the school-age system, the 18, 19 and 20-year-olds that are walking around, young men, ladies, where they want to go out with a trapper, what type of funding support can they give to them so that they can go out to the trapline.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to do my Member’s statement from a song that is sung by Merle Haggard. No, it’s not the one We Don’t Smoke. It’s called The Fighting Side of Me.

I hear people talking bad about the way we do things here in the House, harping on words we use in debating and griping about the way things ought to be. I don’t mind switching sides and standing up for things I believe in, but when you’re running down my fellow MLAs, they’re walking on the fighting side of me, running down a way of life our countrymen have fought and died to keep. If they don’t love it, leave it. Let...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know our students can do it. Last year at the Colville Lake high school, there were three graduates and they did it through the new technology. I’m looking at these small communities and I’m asking that this Grade 13 concept be seen in the minds of the people in the Northwest Territories and see if it has some value in offering this type of program.

Would the Minister be able to report back to the Assembly on this concept by the end of this year and say, yes, it has value? Would he be able to do that?