Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize two distinguished couples, Andrew John and Marie Therese Kenny and John and Camilla Tutcho, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries on September 23rd in Deline.

These two couples are well respected throughout the Sahtu communities and the North for their traditional knowledge and traditional contributions to our youth.

On behalf of the Sahtu, I’d like to congratulate them and wish them a continuous lifetime of happiness. Mahsi cho to their children and grandchildren.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, colleagues, for giving your thoughts, your opinions, your analysis to this bill that is being asked by the Sahtu people. I have been asked by the Sahtu people as a legislator – as Mr. Miltenberger put it so eloquently, as legislators we do the unpopular, bold initiatives to represent your people on whatever issues. When you have your people pushing you for a resolution or solution on an issue such as alcohol, the impacts in the Sahtu region, then you listen to them and you work on their behalf.

I am here before you because we have chosen to do the right thing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Bromley, for the question. When we start to have the oil and gas coming to the Sahtu communities and start to explore for the oil and gas, that could be beneficial to the North and the Sahtu people. The comments by our leadership were starting to look around at the lifting of the liquor sales at the Norman Wells liquor store and we’re starting to see that, with the additional work and the amount of work that’s in the Sahtu, and the lifting has certainly contributed to the amount of liquor being purchased at the Norman Wells liquor store, even to the point...

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right is Kelly McLaughlin, drafter of Bill 24; and on my left is Glen Rutland, legal counsel to me as the sponsor of this bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is my honour to appear in front of the Assembly today as a sponsor of Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Liquor Act. I had the pleasure of attending the committee’s public hearings on this bill in the Sahtu communities. Today I want to discuss the key points and concerns raised by those who came and spoke on the bill and what this bill proposes within the Sahtu.

Decision-making of limits on sales of alcohol in Sahtu would occur at the regional level. Regional service delivery and decision-making is not a new concept. In the Sahtu there are many examples where services are...

Certainly, the Sahtu people have been asking for on-the-land treatment programs ever since I became the MLA 10 years ago. With the closure of the Nats'ejee K'eh program, now the focus is coming back to the on-the-land treatment programs. I would ask the Minister to look at the programs. It may not fit within the prescribed policy or requirement, and this is coming from an Aboriginal community, government, that this is how they see it.

I would ask the Minister if he would dust off the proposals from the Sahtu to say yes, this could work for Colville Lake, Tulita or Deline. This can work in Fort...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked in my Member’s statement about some of the support that’s needed in someone’s life when they want to put away alcohol or any type of addiction. Coming from a small community, in communities the people are listening to me now, today, at this very minute. They have enough motivation and courage to say I want to do something with alcohol, put it away or do something with addictions, drugs or whatever type of addictions they have.

Are there any types of programs right now, from listening to the Minister’s Forum, where they can take their family who say we want to go...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to speak on this topic here. Someone told me that quitting addictions, quitting alcohol is easy. Staying sober or staying free from that is challenging. Also, somebody told me that when you overcome your own addictions, it is very, very difficult and our greatest battle starts with ourselves.

We have to clearly acknowledge our fears and be willing to follow certain prescribed remedies to stay free of our addictions. Countless men and women I have known have gotten and stayed sober and clear of addictions. Some of them may wonder how they did this. Well, I...

That’s what I said in my Member’s statement. How do we try to regulate something that is just common sense in our small communities? We should see some of the places where we store our food and wonder, gee, it must be quite the challenge to cook it up.

What makes something that is common sense in our small communities so unexplainable when it comes to our health centres? Why do we have to go through all these processes? How can the Minister help me with the existing facilities we have now so Aboriginal people and elders can get their traditional foods in these facilities?

Thank you. Certainly, the Minister is correct of our discussion. I want to ask the Minister, is that something that could be within this fiscal framework, to look at the various solutions to increase the Aboriginal foods, say, at Aven Manor? I understand they serve traditional foods only twice a month and at the Stanton Hospital they serve traditional foods every Friday at lunchtime. At Stanton Hospital, the last report indicated 65 percent of patients were Aboriginal people. So I want to ask if the Minister would look at some of these types of solutions to help our elders and our Aboriginal...