This is page numbers 5191 - 5226 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was child.

Topics

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, I think it was last year was the first time this road was constructed to Thor Lake and it’s opening up an opportunity there that wasn’t there historically. It’s something I’ve asked my officials to look into, the possibilities that this new infrastructure or this new allowance has put before us. We’d certainly have to make sure of the intention of the company that’s opening up the road, that it’s going to be there for the long term. This development is still in the exploration stage and we would have to investigate the possibilities and the challenges that opening up a winter road for the final leg of this would bring forward.

Historically, there are only two occasions, I think, that we have seen a winter road. One was from Hay River to Yellowknife quite a while ago, and it brought huge challenges with pressure ridges. Talking to some of the people who were around during those days, they indicated we’re never going to do that again. You would probably need to travel

with portable bridges because the pressure ridges opened up quite a gap. There was a time not too long ago when one of the companies that were working on the arena in Lutselk'e constructed a road and, of course, that posed a lot of challenges, too, and was fairly expensive. Those are things we’d have to consider and look at ways to move this forward, but we are exploring the possibilities. Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I’d like to thank the Minister for that response. Mr. Speaker, in the community of Lutselk'e, I have been advised that there are people in the community that know the lake very well and that they’re able to assist in any such construction that this government or any industry was prepared to venture into. I was wondering if the Minister could commit his department to working with myself and members of Lutselk'e to maybe start to do some of the footwork that’s necessary to develop a winter road on the ice across Great Slave Lake. Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated before, I have directed my officials to look into this issue. The Member for Tu Nedhe has raised this as a concern, as something he wanted to see move forward, and we are exploring the opportunities. Of course, as we do that, we will take into consideration comments from the community and certainly include that as part of the traditional knowledge and that we’d like to have that discussion with the people who are familiar with the lake, familiar with ice and things of that nature. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the Sahtu and talked about the remarkable harvesting that we had of spuds in our region, actually now unofficially the potato capital of the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister in regard to this area here, in terms of on a going-forward basis, would the Minister look at ways, as he stated in his ministerial statement, in terms of creating more avenues to have food produced in the North that would be sold in the grocery stores and that, more importantly, the marketing should happen as soon as possible with these producers in the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for that important question, because everybody needs food to survive on, especially potatoes. I’m reminded of that Stompin’

Tom Connors song of ketchup loves potatoes, so… But this is an initiative of this government. We feel that we need to find ways to increase the production of food locally, and we feel that this is another way to reduce the cost of living and provide for more self-reliance. We are looking at a number of different ways, in partnership with the Government of Canada, to utilize local natural resources, and we are going to be looking at a number of different areas such as fish, muskox, other products, vegetables and so on so that we can find ways so people can use for themselves and also look for opportunities to market them commercially. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister mentioned in his ministerial statement that there is no reason why we can’t have food produced in the Northwest Territories and sold in grocery stores, hotels and restaurants. Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with the Minister in this statement here. I would ask the Minister, in terms of going ahead, in terms of making this a reality, what can the Minister do to advise his department, his council, in terms of making this a reality for the people in the Northwest Territories, people who are paying a high price for groceries in the Sahtu region, so they can certainly enjoy this initiative.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I should point out that it wasn’t that long ago, maybe 20 or 30 years ago, where because of our isolation in the Northwest Territories, that most, I’d say all of the communities were self-sufficient and self-reliant with regard to food production. We’re now at the stage where we’re starting to take baby steps and we’re starting with the Small Scale Foods Program. We’re starting to look at bigger ventures. I think that some Members have raised agriculture as an option, and that’s something that we continue to look at. Even others as we get further into it, we could see how we can continue to provide incentives for local food production. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu there are a high percentage of residents in the Sahtu that consume country foods in Norman Wells. The number of people that hunt and fish for foods is 45 percent, compared to the Northwest Territories at 36 percent. In Fort Good Hope, it is 47, 58 percent. In Colville Lake it is 88 percent, Tulita is 73 percent and Deline at 71 percent. Mr. Speaker, this is a natural fit for this Minister to start working with our people who can produce fish and meat and produce so that consumers can buy it in the grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. This is the perfect opportunity to go ahead with this type of initiative. I think that we would definitely meet our goals as healthy and educated people. I think that this Minister needs to jump on the bandwagon as soon as possible.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will jump on the wagon if I can find one. Seriously, this is an objective and a goal for us. There are some challenges that we will have to address. Anytime you serve food and you provide food, you have to deal with health guidelines and you have to make sure that the food is safe and fresh and so on. These are the kinds of challenges that we have to face, but I think on a go-forward basis we can begin to work at it and we can take small steps. The more successful we get as we go along, the bigger we can get. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Time for question period has expired. I will allow the Member a final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is no small potatoes initiative here going ahead in terms of this program.

Mr. Speaker, we in the communities have eaten off our land for many years; our food, our fish and vegetables. We are still here. My people are still in the Sahtu. It is the current policies and regulations that stop us. We need to change that. I want to ask this Minister in terms of changing these policies. You have to come down to realities of the communities to make this happen and always be beggars in terms of our being slaves to the current policies that prevent us from what is actually given to us by the good Lord. Again, with his forcefulness, can this Minister go to his counterparts and say, we are going to make changes? Let’s shake this ground here. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, yes, we are going to shake things up and especially now that we know they can grow one-pound potatoes in the Sahtu. This is an area that we are looking at and combined we have to also look at inter-settlement trade so that we can move the resources around and so on. I think this is a very important initiative for this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 9, written questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 8, oral questions, on the Order Paper. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Question 248-16(5): Draft Devolution Agreement-In-Principle
Oral Questions (Reversion)

October 20th, 2010

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really had one question, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on a statement I made the other day and my questions earlier today. It is for the Premier. I just want to confirm that should the AIP be signed, the Premier is refusing, really, is unwilling to initiate a comprehensive and inclusive public consultation discussion on Northerners use for a new land and resource management regime towards sustainable development in the NWT. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am trying to figure out where that comes from in the sense that the process we are involved in, if we do agree to sign an agreement-in-principle, then we would begin a process of the final settled negotiations, and those negotiations are the questions about what the transition needs to be.

The AIP spells out a timeline right now for the existing structures. We would have to design with our partners, aboriginal governments, how we would then put our stamp and make it a northern process for ourselves. That work would be started as we begin the final set of negotiations identifying what things need to be done and the timeline of that. That would incorporate a comprehensive process as we begin that process of taking it over. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, I will try and put this as plainly as can be. I am not talking about negotiations at all, Mr. Speaker, I am asking the Premier to commit to a comprehensive public consultation process, an inclusive one on what Northerners want for a northern land and resource management regime. I am sure it will be useful in negotiations, but I am simply asking for him to commit to putting that in place as soon as the AIP is signed, should it be within the life of this government, with a transition document for the next. Mahsi.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, I’m understanding a little more on the question. The approach is coming up with a process of informing people and coming up with what people would like to see in a final agreement and, as we implement that agreement, what it should look like. I think we can have a discussion and I will commit to sit down with Members and with this Assembly and let’s talk about how we may be able to put that parallel to the work that we would take on. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Premier just on the draft AIP in regards to the signatories to the agreement. Right now we have a bilateral. It is the federal government and the territorial government. There are no lines there for any of the aboriginal governments to sign on. I understand that the aboriginal governments can sign on later on. Right now the parameters are being set between the federal government and the territorial government. There are some major issues with the aboriginal governments of being signatories of this. Why are the aboriginal governments not signatories to this agreement here in terms of our discussions on the government-to-government relationships?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.