Norman Yakeleya

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, June 4, 2015, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, September 29, 2015;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to September 29, 2015, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu we believe we can do better because we have the tools now with our hands to create our own destiny, not from Ottawa or not from Yellowknife anymore. They’ve gone through many changes and have adapted to those changes as part of our life.

In the ‘20s, Norman Wells oil development began and is still in this process of developing.

However, the principle of recognition of who we are remains firm. We are our own people in this great land of our ancestors. No one can deny our life’s opportunities, either good or bad, and only good if we’re responsible and bad if...

Mr. Speaker, our children today are challenged with financial literacy. There’s money coming out. It’s going to be a bigger issue for them if they do not have the financial literacy. I think it’s key in today’s world that we give the children the opportunity to learn how to work with money, otherwise we’ll continue to have poverty in the Northwest Territories. We have to do this for our children.

I want to ask the Minister again, you know, in regards to the financial literacy by this junior program. Is he going to be pushing strong, this department, this government, to look at volunteers – not...

I’m going to ask the Minister again, is he aware of the wide range of financial literacy available through the Junior Achievement Program? Is the Minister willing to support a pilot project in the upcoming school year where the Junior Achievement volunteers – not paid, volunteers – offer courses to elementary or high school students? Because the Sahtu Educational Board wants this program to know what the Minister is talking. We want a Grade 8 program. Is the Minister willing to look at that?

Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to honour Mr. Danny Leonard Gaudet. Today I want to state a fact. Today the University of Alberta will be honouring Mr. Danny Gaudet with an honourary Doctoral Law Degree.

The honourary degree demonstrates that hard work, a sense of purpose, doing more than you’re paid for and helping others is the first lesson taught to him by his elders. He says he owes so much to these highly prized teachers in life.

Mr. Speaker, let us today in this Assembly congratulate Mr. Danny Gaudet on his Doctoral Degree in Law. On behalf of the Sahtu and those who know Dr. Gaudet...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The committee’s 2010 report included a core recommendation to set up and fund child and family services committees in every community, as set out in the act. Only one community, Fort McPherson, has ever had a child and family services committee, although provisions were first made for them in the act nearly twenty years ago. The lone Fort McPherson experiment was fragile and short-lived.

During the public review, the Minister clarified that these expanded roles in communities would be performed on a voluntary and unpaid basis. Members were uniformly displeased to hear...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As all Members know, the community of Deline has for years been concerned about the waters of Great Bear Lake. It has worked hard to ensure that the development proceeds in a way that does not do undue harm to the environment, the cultural integrity of the lake and its watershed. The community has been a leader in the field of sustainable development and engaged fully in the negotiations which resulted in the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement and the land use planning process which resulted in the Sahtu Land Use Plan. It led the development of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Tom Hoefer. Mr. Hoefer gave me a picture of one of our most respected elders in the Sahtu and I want to thank Tom for that picture. It means a lot to me. Thank you, Tom, and congratulations to the new board on mining development.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all want a cleaner, safer, healthier environment. “Why,” you ask. Well, if you were to come out and walk on the Canol Trail with me, you’ll know why, or travel along the Mackenzie River, you’ll know why, or fish on Great Slave Lake or the Great Bear, you’ll know why.

We can strike a balance. We have responsible exploration for energy. We are searching for economic freedom, unshackling the chains of dependency from the federal government. Days are gone of the oil companies that drill them, fill them, spill them and bill them. Responsible exploration for energy has been...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been fracking in the Northwest Territories. There is vertical fracking and horizontal fracking. There has been fracking in the Cameron Hills in the ‘70s and we’ve been fracking in the Lone Pine Resources in Fort Liard. Imperial Oil actually has been doing some fracking under a different name.

I want to know from the Minister, through all these different fracks throughout the years, has the Minister, with his colleagues, seen any type of environmental issues that are raised by the anti-fracking groups?