Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the -- what the chair of the committee's read in thus far. However, some different points of view, and I'll share other Members' points of view.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Government Operations (the committee) was tasked with reviewing Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. As a Member of the committee, it is important to note that while I agree with some of the concerns highlighted in committee's report on the review to date of Bill 26, there are several important reasons for preparing a dissenting point of view.

First of all, I...

Mr. Speaker, I'm a little confused on the side versus second tier. It doesn't sound like it's on the list of number one projects, and it's not even the -- doesn't sound clear enough that it's even on the second visiting of this particular project. Can the Minister tell us what will it take to get it as a major -- sorry, the Arctic Economic Security Corridor identified as a major project in this next submission? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure I have to walk down to the office; I've already given her the suggestions and she's welcome by the way.

That said, Mr. Speaker, the Minister did go into the other area of where the samples are going. What type of analysis is being taken as to how much are going where, what does it cost, what does it change the process. Because I'm aware that section has requested more staffing. In other words, they put in submissions to increase the staff but someone in the chain of hierarchy keeps denying them the needed staff. And I'm curious as to what the reasoning is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the willingness of the Minister. If she wants some simple suggestions, chairs, the little tags at the DMV --

Mr. Speaker, the next comment is no reflection of the staff, but it seems like the staff are unable to keep up with the pace and the demand that's there, which is sometimes reality, Mr. Speaker. And the constituents -- last point I'll make -- is they show up there, unlike the DMV they can't take a ticket, some of them can't stand because they're elderly, they're waiting for 35 people for 32 spots. It's quite a depressing experience, Mr. Speaker. So in short, Mr. Speaker, if Stanton has an addiction to deficits, as we all know -- and I have a lot of experience around this -- why doesn't the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd qualify that as the third best answer I've heard today. So that was pretty good.

So, Mr. Speaker, the next question is simply this: Is the government, is the Minister, is the department, still committed to this project? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if she could give this House an update where the polytech is on the work plan of the department and the college and when can we see some type of movement forward on this particular initiative that's important to the growth of training and education in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. You're a steady hand on the till when it comes to the rules.

Mr. Speaker, former Premier McLeod, or I called him other things, Mr. Speaker, I really mean that endearingly. He had a vision. And you know what? The reason I say this is because the Minister is in power to make decisions. I appreciate she wants to consult but what's wrong with convening a three-person panel as an example? Because they could talk about the power of a North of 60 mineral tax credit. They could talk about the power of the mineral tender system. They could talk about different things about...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll start off by saying, first I'll acknowledge a former colleague and friend -- not former friend, but former colleague of the Legislative Assembly. Punctuation matters as they say.

So, Mr. Speaker, let me start again, just to make sure we're clear. Former colleague of this House and a friend, I'll say, who used to be the Member for Range Lake, as you've already acknowledged, Mr. Daryl Dolynny. He's also been an entrepreneur in the city, but he's currently the CEO and president of Avens. I appreciate him being here today. By his side, he also has some...

That's okay, sometimes you can't tell us apart, Mr. Speaker. We do it to ourselves.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order regarding Bill 26 which received second reading in the House on May 29th, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations on that date.

Mr. Speaker, our rules lay out the procedures for the committee to review bills in chapter 8.3, and I do not believe they have been followed in this case. Rule 8.3(1) specifies that, quote, bills referred to a standing committee, special committee, shall not be proceeded until the Assembly receives the report of...