Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just for clarification, Mr. Blake and the Board of Management, I just want to ask for the definition of home. There are some people who have homes in their communities. Some are leasing it; some are renting it. Some don’t have homes. Some, of course, have their own homes. Is there just a definition for myself?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing this motion forward and also the Members for considering it. I would like to say that I support this motion because it makes sense. The issue of affordable daycares in the Northwest Territories has been an issue for some time. There are daycares here in Yellowknife where a mother who is single or married, a mother has to pay $43 a day to put their child in a private daycare centre, if the mother or the parents need to go to work to support their family. A licenced daycare, Mr. Speaker, is between $40 and $41 a day.

In some of...

With the increase of oil and gas in our region and the development that’s going to certainly increase if the proven resources are there in the Sahtu, what type of level of increases of spills could we expect, based on the performance of the pipelines and the companies and the reports that we’re just finding out now from the CBC report? I’d ask the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, I talked about the incidents that the CBC reported on Norman Wells being the number one community of oil and gas leakage, fire, injuries and pipeline integrity. I want to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources if there is a reporting protocol and why doesn’t it include any type of notification to the public on these incidents that CBC had to tell the world on this type of stuff that’s dear to our hearts.

Mr. Chair, I’d ask for a recorded vote.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I respond to Mr. Bromley’s questions, I want to thank the Members for speaking to the bill. Certainly I look forward to continued support as we go through this process.

The question to Mr. Bromley’s question on the point of evaluation on monitoring, certainly, Mr. Bromley, this is quite unique. It’s doing something that is bold and imaginative for a solution. Not maybe the perfect solution the way I’d like to see it, as legislators doing something that’s right for the people who spoke to us in the Sahtu in the communities. Even though we went to four of the...

Madam Chair, I thank the Member for the question. The legislation is specific to the Sahtu region. Mr. Menicoche raises a very good point because the only other liquor store in the Northwest Territories that has restrictions is the Fort Simpson liquor store. However, this legislation specifically speaks to the Sahtu region. Could I ask Ms. Kelly McLaughlin if she has any comments?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems that we have a disconnect. The Minister is asking the Aboriginal governments, the communities, to give us the proposal for on the land. The communities are saying this is what we believe is an on-the-land program and it seems that we’re not connecting as we need to sit down together and talk about this. We do have the proposals, I’ve seen them myself and I actually passed them on to the Minister.

Would the Minister then say, okay, Fort Good Hope, Tulita, Deline, Colville Lake even, we think we have a program. Let’s work on it together. I’m asking when can the...

Thank you. It’s said that we need to think like our ancestors had been thinking. They knew the culture and the customs, Mr. Speaker. The culture taught them how to live in harmony with each other, so the people are saying we need to think like this again and that we must rely on a power greater than ourselves and that they don’t need alcohol in their lives.

So I say this: When will the Minister present a concrete on-the-land program for people in the small communities so they can take advantage of this service and this program?