Robert Hawkins

I’m fine with that and I’m happy to start straightening it out as soon as I’m done talking here.

The only issue I would have then, is if we passed this act noting the amounts, does that stop us from pursuing it through other methods? Especially when I know they’re alive. I know, roughly, where they live. I can’t 100 percent guarantee that they’re in public housing, but I do believe they are. So I can at least say confidently, two out of the three I can check off with great confidence.

So how do we deal with this? If we pass the act, have we taken away our ability to pursue this money? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What would this session be without a little bit of discussion on the topic of jobs? Jobs matter. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. If you live in Tulita, Aklavik, Ulukhaktok or even Yellowknife, jobs matter. Jobs are what help people get along. We need jobs to pay our rent, to take care of our kids, to put food on our table. Jobs matter to everyone. Recently something drew my attention to this problem and I’m trying to figure out what we are doing about this. Well, recently the government was touting, once again, that it has been nominated and found as one of Canada...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a quick question. Is it written off, forgiven, or how do we address an issue of somebody having rental arrears that’s on the list that I know still lives in public housing? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, is the Minister really clear that a value on branding has not been decided nor a process has not been decided thus far? I have been led to believe that that has already been considered. So when you say these are things we still have to work out, you would think that the plan would have come to our committee and our attention just a little clearer before you ask.

Basically you are asking us to trust you. Then when you go on and you can do whatever you want, and by the time it gets back to us, that is long down the river and it’s too late to care about it.

Is the Minister very clear...

Thank you. As far as branding goes, who is paying for the implementation or how are they going to be branded? That is one of the problems that are being discussed here. I think, frankly, it’s the elephant in the room. How are they going to be branded? Are we talking about 50 percent of the screen and it stays on the brand name 20 minutes? Are we just talking about a small piece on the side like we see on a BlackBerry, et cetera, just small, little wording? What are we really talking about when we talk about branding in reflection to size and the impression it may have?

I mean, let’s be...

Mr. Chairman, we are getting a little closer than before. I guess that’s progress.

So, who owns the iPad? Who controls the content of the iPad? Who maintains them and are they disposable? In other words, once we give them, we don’t see them back? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has provided me with a briefing note. The Minister has provided me with some stats. The Minister has provided me with some further information, and oddly enough, all these three pieces of information conflict with each other. I’ve talked to the people in the community of Paulatuk and their information conflicts with all three pieces even further.

I’d like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation who is doing these particular assessments on these units, what is their qualification, what are their competencies and when were the assessments of these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, housing conditions in remote communities matter to all Members of this House regardless of what constituency you represent. I want to talk about some of the public housing conditions in Paulatuk here today.

I’ve been reading some of the condition ratings provided in detail by the Housing Corporation, and I am quite concerned, and I think we need to discuss them today. Now, if you have visited or perhaps been in contact with any of the families there recently, you would hear one point of view, and of course, if you have asked for information such as I have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this whole issue really boils down to something very simple as saying this: We don’t want to cause any further strain to this family’s economic situation, and furthermore, we don’t want to provide any extensive financial hardships to the person who has volunteered or, in some cases, doesn’t really have a choice. They have to go as the medical escort. If you weigh and balance the great strain being a medical escort can cause – and I’m talking about the pocketbook or the financial hardship that can be created by this situation – it causes one to say, well, we don...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re getting somewhere on this file and I want to be very clear. Will the Minister send proper professionals with appropriate credentials to go and assess those particular units, not send some secretary in there to walk out or some administrative assistant to walk in there, count heads, count bodies, whatever the case may be to say is your unit well. I want competent professionals that can go in there, assess them properly, develop a plan with the community and show them that the housing issues matter to them. Because right now I’m getting calls that there’s an oil...