In the Legislative Assembly on February 20th, 2015. See this topic in context.

Community Palliative Care
Members’ Statements

February 19th, 2015

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about the importance of bringing our people back into our communities for their last days on this earth. I recall a time when I had a discussion with people in Colville Lake when they had an elderly person come to Yellowknife. In Colville Lake the people were kind of missing him. So I sat with the leadership and they were asking this older man to come back to the community. They were saying it was like they took a book of knowledge, an encyclopedia out of our community. They said this old man had this special knowledge with the animals and it’s like we don’t have the information in our community and we would like to bring him back into Colville Lake because he has this knowledge about the animals and we need to learn from him. Without it, it’s like we’re lost and we’re searching for answers.

So I was thinking about this and I’m somewhat glad to hear the Minister yesterday talk about training some of the nurses in health care to bring people and make their last couple of days comfortable in their homes, and train the nurses and make it possible that we can have some of our people come back to our communities to spend their last couple of days and to pass on their knowledge to the people, give their last words to their children. These are very important culturally for our people.

I want to continue to press the Minister on Deline’s request to look at a place where the private homes might be a little too much to look after someone

who is dying, so they could move into a special place. I wanted to ask the Minister again on what’s the progress of this study here that Deline has been asking for. I do want to say that this is an issue that has been on the Sahtu’s radar for several years, so I’ll ask the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Community Palliative Care
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.