SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Surplus tents at the Tent and Canvas Shop in Fort McPherson could provide shelter for people in Haiti affected by last month's earthquake, said Mackenzie Delta David Krutko.

"With the rainy season coming, there is an urgent need to provide shelter," he said in the legislative assembly on Feb. 15.

Krutko said there are 160 tents in inventory and more could be manufactured. The craftspeople working at the government-owned shop could sew one or two new tents a day, according to Krutko and if needed, they could "go on a full-time operational basis and provide the emergency shelter that is going to be needed to help the people in Haiti."

He asked the territorial government to consider working with the Canadian Military, the federal government and NGOs to transport the tents to Haiti.

On Feb. 16, Bob McLeod, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, said he liked the idea.

"That would be an excellent way to promote the tents and the products of the Northwest Territories," he said.

McLeod said because the Tent and Canvas Shop is a business, the GNWT would have to find money to pay for the tents.

He suggested the tents could be transported on a backhaul from Inuvik with the help of local airlines.

Krutko asked him to continue looking into the options, saying there are approximately one million people without shelter and millions of dollars raised in the relief efforts to help.

MLA wants RCMP veterans to work with new recruits

Tom Beaulieu, MLA for Tu Nedhe, wants RCMP officers to have the option of staying more than two years in Northern communities and for new recruits to be paired with more experienced officers when they're stationed in the North.

Responding to a question on Feb. 17 in the legislative assembly, Justice Minister Jackson Lafferty said it was possible for the two-year stints to run longer but the RCMP requires advance notice to extend a posting. He said they take into account the needs of the community and the force when making the decision.

Beaulieu also asked if Lafferty would consider presenting the RCMP with a proposal to pair new recruits with veteran members, instead of putting two rookie officers in communities.

Lafferty made reference to the shooting deaths of RCMP officers in Hay River and Kimmirut, Nunavut, and said the issue was already under discussion at the national level of the RCMP.

"The discussion has been that we need those officers, new recruits, with a mentor that may have five to 10 years' experience," he said.

Lafferty said he would report back after a meeting with the RCMP later this month. He said plans for community orientations for new officers were also in the works.

Traditional hospital food

Because 65 per cent of Stanton Territorial Hospital's patients are aboriginal, Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya said they should have the choice of traditional food from the communities.

He asked Health Minister Sandy Lee what the status was on making "healthy, good traditional" food available to patients.

Lee said the hospital's elders council was reviewing the option. She said presently the food at the hospital is provided by a third-party contractor.

"I'm not aware of cultural and country food being made available to patients at Stanton," she said.

Yakeleya said a plan for implementation was long overdue and asked Lee to speed up the process.