Robert Hawkins

All very good questions by the Minister and I’m happy to answer them. Trappers and folks who own cabins are very concerned about the fire season. They are trying to understand why things, for example, resources weren’t used certain ways, why sprinklers weren’t accessed, why information wasn’t timely. The long and short of it is simply this: I think the suggestion is great, which is if ENR, for example, hosted a public meeting at the Legislature here, maybe in a couple of the communities where it is relevant, and welcomed input from the people who were impacted by the fires. The only thing that...

Yes, sir.

I’d hate to think the program was successful and that was why we cancelled it. Maybe the Minister can talk about the interim solutions we can offer these families who have young people who want to start their careers. They like the ideas of trades. I mean, the Minister is so focused in on the end portion where they’ve gone through the trades program and they’ve graduated and moved on. I’m trying to get people into the program who want a fresh start at life, and it’s our job to ensure that we give them a great start.

What exists for these folks who need these pre-employment programs, these pre...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Greatly appreciated. I have a question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Some time ago there were some pre-employment programs funded through SFA, and this is where it’s unfortunate to say this, but we know that all school education programs are not created equal and some kids graduate without the skills to get into trades programming. There was a pre-trades program available for youth so we could help them move forward on their career to be part of society in a very productive way.

Can I ask the Minister, what happened to that program and how was it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity just recently to read a press release put out by Premier Jim Prentice, and of course, that is the Premier of Alberta. He had met our Premier Bob McLeod, it looks like, over the weekend. This has drawn my attention to the statement which is where I am going to focus my question. It says the Premier, and it talks about the long history between Alberta and the Northwest Territories, to set a path forward to strengthen our economies. I’m going to focus my area directly to that, as I mentioned.

I would like to know the nature of the discussion that they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Truly the sky is falling on this particular issue if we do not make a positive change. Everyone knows renewables are the future. Those people who continue to deny this fact, deny the future that they hold for their children.

We all know we must get behind renewables and continue to make strides in that particular area. It’s well known that Canada does not meet its targets on climate change initiatives and greenhouse gas problems, but yet it’s leading the future into an unknown peril that we may never be able to get off of the track that’s driving us to the end.

In...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister knows that this department has controlled the superintendents to stay silent on particular issues. This just reaffirms the reporting line by now being known that the person from whom they receive their paycheque, they have to further take direction from the department. This is a major issue; it has been recently a major issue; and frankly, I don’t see this getting any easier.

I say that we can confuse the issue by dangling the carrot of money in front of people and saying, well geez, it’s a money issue. But it’s not necessarily a money issue. It’s a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was certainly, and still have been, a supporter of the Mackenzie Gas Project, but that’s actually gas. It’s not the heavy bitumen provided by the Alberta economy that they want to get, which is stranded. I recognize what the Premier says, they have stranded resources, we have resources. I fully understand that point, but gas is not the same as the heavy bitumen that’s out of Alberta. Other regions are refusing it and it causes the question, do we want to take on this environmental burden in some process? We should be putting this question upfront before too much...

I appreciate the history lesson for the Premier about how Alberta and Saskatchewan came about, although I happen to already know that, just so you know, but I appreciate that all the same. But that said, energy is a very big topic, as we all know, and that’s kind of what some of us are talking about here today.

I’d like to maybe drill down just a little bit as to what type of energy cooperation relationship is the Premier talking about developing with the province of Alberta with the Northwest Territories. I think this is an important topic and we need to be talking about it, how in some ways...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I’d like to recognize Deneze Nakehk'o. I’ve known him a long time and it’s always great to see him. I certainly know his family very well and have great respect for them.

Mr. Speaker, I want to use the occasion to acknowledge our esteemed guest there, Dr. David Suzuki. In a funny way, many Canadians feel like we know him personally. As a small child growing up in Fort Simpson, I remember being sent to bed. But on Wednesday nights when I didn’t go to bed, I would turn my little black and white TV on and I’d have my little string earpiece so my parents didn’t know I...