Titus Allooloo

Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Historical Information Titus Allooloo is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly September 1995, as MLA for Amittuq

Lost his last election, in 1995, with 19% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Item 4: Returns To Oral Questions December 12th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to a question asked by Mr. Zoe on December 10, 1991, with regard to a proposed winter road to Snare Lake. The Department of Transportation considers a public access winter road to Snare Lake to be a logical future extension of the present winter road system and is investigating the possibility of scheduling a road for every second year beginning in 1991-92. Unlike the previous winter truck routes which were only constructed when needed to meet specific shipping requirements and which remained open for about one week only, a public access road would be maintained throughout the winter season and would be available for use by local residents.

The Department of Transportation has never been funded to construct a winter road into Snare Lake. The road to the Colomac mine site and the extension to Snare Lake in previous years were constructed by private companies who charged the costs of construction to those agencies shipping goods to the community.

The costs for a public access winter road are estimated at between $300,000 and $400,000. While these costs are significant, especially in the current financial situation, they would be partially offset by the reduced costs of resupplying the community by road rather than by air. In addition, the various construction projects planned for the community over the next few years require the delivery of materials and equipment. Again, the savings achieved by shipping by winter road rather than by air would partially offset the cost of the winter road construction. A decision on the viability of the public access winter road is expected to be made by the end of December.

In the event that a public access winter road is not constructed, resupply and delivery of construction equipment and materials must once again be accomplished by a combination of air and private truck convoy. Initial meetings have taken place with Robinson Trucking Limited of Yellowknife, who have provided a truck haul service in the past. It is anticipated that such a convoy would be scheduled for late January or early February. I have instructed my department to co-ordinate the government's involvement in such a convoy, and it is attempting to firm up details of the shipping requirements of the various departments.

Thus far, it is understood that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs requires shipment of a front-end loader, a three-quarter ton fire truck, an all-terrain vehicle and materials for construction of an equipment maintenance garage. The petroleum products division requires shipment of 51,000 litres of heating and vehicle fuel. The preliminary estimate of the cost to transport all of these materials by truck convoy or cat-train is $150,000. The NWT Housing Corporation does not have any materials scheduled for Snare Lake this winter.

Further Return Question O81-12(1): Funding For Cultural Inclusion Programs December 11th, 1991

Mr. Speaker, what I have asked my department to do is to tell me what sort of moneys for cultural inclusions programs are given out to the communities. I have asked them to give me that information and also to see if we could find a better method of funding cultural programs in each community. Once that information is available, I will probably have to go back to the divisional boards, at least to the communities' educational authorities, to find out what would be the best way to use those resources that will be of the most benefit to the communities. Thank you.

Question O81-12(1): Funding For Cultural Inclusion Programs December 11th, 1991

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have talked to my department in regard to funding for education. There are programs in the communities and in the different regions that are available in cultural inclusion. The funding that is given to the communities is being dealt with by my department. They are trying to fix it so the communities are more satisfied.

Question O79-12(1): Government's Emergency Response Plan December 11th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Member is questioning the emergency response the government has. This area of responsibility is with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Question O76-12(1): Progress On Rewriting Education Act December 11th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we found was that people throughout the Northwest Territories generally are very interested in the educational system. Since education to the northern people is new, especially in my region, people are getting into the education system and the parents are very interested. We found that the community people are very interested in taking part and also in determining what their kids' education will be in the future. Based on the government direction which will be given to the Department of Education, and based on the concerns that were raised during the process that took place last year when the department solicited information from the communities and regional boards, we will determine what will be the best method to educate the kids who are attending school currently, as well as the future students.

Question O76-12(1): Progress On Rewriting Education Act December 11th, 1991

Yes, we have collected concerns from the communities. In writing a new Education Act we will be using the information that we have received from the communities, as well as the organizations that are interested in education throughout the NWT. Thank you.

Question O76-12(1): Progress On Rewriting Education Act December 11th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, in the "Strength At Two Levels" report there were references made to the educational boards, Arctic College and the community based educational boards. The government is now reviewing that report and we will ultimately have to wait for the direction that cabinet would give the Department of Education. After all that is resolved, after the government knows where education is going, the work would begin to update, along with the regional community educational boards, the Education Act. Thank you.

Question O76-12(1): Progress On Rewriting Education Act December 11th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, the previous Minister solicited information from community members and regional organizations that are

dealing with education. My department has put together a collection of those concerns and we have consolidated them. We have sent them back to the community educational boards and councils to tell the communities, since they are the voices of the regional community boards throughout the Northwest Territories.

What we are trying to do now is to put together an information package so that the communities and the regional boards are informed as to where we are going with our Education Act. We will continue the work that was started by the previous government to see where changes should take place in the Education Act. Thank you.

Ministers' Statement 14-12(1): Gwich'in Language Dictionary December 11th, 1991

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to announce the successful publication of a dictionary in the Gwich'in language. At the end of this statement, I will be presenting a copy of this dictionary to my colleagues who represent the Gwich'in people.

This is the first dictionary of the Northwest Territories in the Gwich'in dialect that has ever been published. The dictionary is the result of a co-operative effort by the Gwich'in people in Fort McPherson. I congratulate William George Firth and the many people, especially the elders, who worked with him to produce this dictionary.

This book, which is over 200 pages, contains entries for all of the parts of speech in Gwich'in. It also contains verb charts. It will be useful for language specialists, teachers, people learning to speak Gwich'in and interpreters/translators. It is written using the standard writing system for Gwich'in.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to note that funding for the research and publishing costs of this dictionary was made possible under the provision of the Official Languages Agreement that our government signed with the Government of Canada. I hope this dictionary of the Gwich'in language, along with the South Slavey dictionary which we published last year, will soon be followed by dictionaries for the other Dene languages. In order to preserve and revive our languages, we need many kinds of literacy materials, of which dictionaries are the cornerstone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question O61-12(1): Winter Roads In Keewatin Region December 10th, 1991

What we find with regard to the development of the new winter roads is that there is a significant impact on the lives of the community people who have been isolated all their lives. There is also a significant impact on the environment when the roads are put in. There is ultimately going to be communication between our government and the affected communities. There will have to be a consultation process established prior to the planning of the roads.