1. Upon election, what do you plan to accomplish in your first 90 days, what about a year?
In the first ninety days, the number one priority for me is to sit down with the Indigenous leadership from across the Dehcho and Nahendeh, and also talk to leadership in the Sahtu because I believe that all of our issues are interconnected on this side of the Mackenzie Valley. I want to also hear from our Member of Parliament and our Senator on where things are at for funding for the Mackenzie Valley Highway. That is a key piece of infrastructure that we need to have happen, and it really shows a sign of neglect from Ottawa that the last Prime Minister to push the highway north goes back to Mr. Trudeau Sr. in the 1970’s with Higher North, and then John Diefenbaker, who was the last Prime Minister to really have a view for Northern development and infrastructure investments. So that’s one of my big priorities on an infrastructure front. The other thing is, I want to meet with the Tri Council here in Fort Simpson and find out where things are at for a bridge. We need a bridge coming here. We are cut off from the rest of the Territory and from the Sahtu because of ferries and we need to see serious changes in infrastructure investment over here, and it needs bridges. Those are some of my top priorities in the first ninety days.
Another big thing is, I want to hear directly from some of the Health Board officials, and see where we’re at internally for health strategy, and for our mental health supports, and also with the Dehcho District of Education Council to see where we’re at with the number of staff being retained and hired to help our youth and the future of our region.
2. What are the most pressing issues you plan to address during your time in office?
Housing is going to be number one. I was very sad to see in the news about Kasteel Construction possibly going bankrupt. I know they have done a lot of projects over here in the Dehcho and Nahendeh, and I wish Trevor Kasteel all the best. I hope things turn around for him and his company. We need housing. We’ve lost three teachers before Thanksgiving because we have a lack of housing here, and if we can’t keep teachers here because of housing, what about the people that are born and raised here for generations? So housing is number one. I also want to tackle crime. I am not complicit on this issue, we need healthier communities right across the North, and part of that is sitting down with the Department of Justice and making sure we have enough RCMP officers on our streets and in our communities to do their job. I’ve heard directly from Sergent Cormey from our detachment that he does not have enough officers to do his job, and that is something we have to take seriously. We are losing too many young people across the North due to addictions and substance abuse, and I will stand very tall on that issue. We have an issue with opioids that’s killing our young people, and I don’t know how any candidate can turn a blind eye to this issue. We need to have a detox facility, and we need to be tougher on drugs and crime in our North.
3. What is your plan to bring workers to the north, and keep residents in the NWT?
We need to look seriously at training and retaining. That means working with Aurora College that we have programs that are relevant for northern youth, that will help them get ahead and get jobs in the workforce, whether it be in the private sector or in the public sector with the GNWT. I also am standing squarely against the idea of the Aurora College only being in Yellowknife. I’m not against Yellowknife, but we need to keep Thebacha Campus open, and we need to keep Inuvik’s campus open. We’re learning more and more from studies on education that it’s not always a bricks and mortar school that we need. We need to look at supporting Aurora College and the role that they have, and helping satellite campuses in all communities across the NWT. We can’t just worry about downtown Yellowknife, we need to worry about the whole Territory. So we’ll be looking at program reviews, what Aurora College and polytechnic will look like in the future, and we also need to look at training and retaining of teachers for the north, training and retaining of police officers in the north. We’re lucky in the NWT that we have so many current and former RCMP officers right from here in Nehendeh. I can think of two right off the bat, April Bell, who’s in Yellowknife right now, and Gordie Isaih, who’s retired. If I was the RCMP, I’d be getting out with those officers and taking them to the schools and inspiring our youth to think about a job in law enforcement. Community policing is so important. It plays a role in healthy communities, and helping with future leaders. So those are some priorities that I have.
4. As housing prices continue to rise, do you have plans to address the needs of those struggling to live in the north?
Well I think I’d be working closely with our Member of Parliament and Senator in Ottawa, and that is revisiting our tax deduction base and taxation laws that Ottawa sets. I don’t think any of us can afford this carbon tax. I’m for the environment, but I’m also for a strong northern economy, and we can’t be dividing environment and economy. They’re not separate issues, they all come together. So number one would be revisiting the carbon tax. We hear already from the Maritimes, they’re saying no to it. Premiere Blaine Higgs from New Brunswick is saying no. We also heard from Premiere Smith south of us in Alberta, and that she’s also against this carbon tax. So we have to sit down and look at the numbers. Yes, we need a tax base, but people in the north already know how expensive it is to live here, and we don’t need additional taxes added to us. We have to really look at what the taxation laws are that Ottawa is pushing on us, and what Yellowknife can do to help change that in our legislature.
5. Due to the rise in drug crime and homelessness in the territory and its communities, can you describe the number one crime-related issue you plan on addressing first?
We know all too well that Hay River and Fort Liard are the major areas where these drugs are coming into the north from the south. We need to help the police do their jobs, and we need to help the schools do their jobs by having mental health and addictions counsellors ready for students, and for people of all ages. I think a lot of people have been struggling since the lockdown of COVID, and a lot of us cope in different ways, myself included. I coped with alcohol, and I’ve cut it out of my lifestyle. Not everybody can do that. I’m not going to sit here and judge and point a finger, but we need to be very smart about our approach to health and addictions across the Northwest Territories. I’m tired of hearing that the GNWT or the previous government does not think we need a healing facility or a detox facility. Yukon is smaller than our population, and they have the Sarah Steele Building in Whitehorse. The least we could do for our people from our alcohol and marijuana taxes is at least to help with detox. That’s the first step. We can’t push healing and sobriety on people. They have to make that choice themselves, but we at least, as a responsible government, should be offering the basic services to people to turn their lives around, and that comes from healthy lifestyles and a job, and a roof over peoples heads. So that counts down the three things as my priorities; investments in housing, investments in health, education and infrastructure. Through those infrastructure dollars, you’d be creating jobs across the north, so people would have a job, put on their hard toed boots to go to work, and take some pride in themselves. These are all little things the government can do, but I don’t think the previous government recognizes that.
