Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s one of the few times we’ll ever say this, but apparently size doesn’t matter on this particular issue. In Vancouver, you just type a person’s name and it will give you the information.

As I tabled in this very House, I only tabled a small excerpt, but in Ontario they go very detailed, down to the name, the position and whatnot.

The last thing I’ll say is I’ve drafted a Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. Would the Minister be interested in this particular project that I’ve been working on and would he see what he could do to get behind it? Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate that good attempt at an answer by the Minister, because he talked about privacy rights. I’d like to draw the public’s attention, and more specifically the Minister of Human Resources’ attention, to a document I found on Northern News Services website. It’s dated April 27, 1998, and it’s quoted as such that Premier Don Morin, oddly enough the old Member for Tu Nedhe, had succumbed to the pressure of Regular Members and tabled all salaries of these employees with their names attached to that.

So if we’ve done it in the past, what’s stopping us today from doing it going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to raise the concern of publishing our public sector salaries. I’m referring to our senior public service, not those who are in the middle or the lower end of the pay scale. This obviously has true accountability and transparency measures and wants that are desperately called for by the public.

In the past, I’ve pointed out that New Brunswick, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. have seen the light on this particular issue, and each province, in their own way, have found a range of salary and public disclosures to ensure that they continue to...

I suspect that laws have evolved in such a manner that we can only use the black highlighter when we explain things. Quite often Members want information.

I’ve invested quite a bit of time in a document that’s a few pages and it’s potentially a private member’s bill. It’s called the Private Sector Salary Disclosure Act.

I’d like to know if the Minister of Human Resources would be interested in co-sponsoring this act me with so the public can finally have true accountability, which is happening across this country from Nova Scotia to B.C. Now it’s time the Northwest Territories joins the rest of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the need for public sector salary disclosure and this is not the first time I’ve raised this particular matter in the House. I’ve cited several provinces across this country that have databases or have even tabled public reports, a sample of course, an excerpt of a public report from Ontario that does this.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources what’s stopping him from publicly tabling a disclosure paper or document that demonstrates and clearly shows transparency of all salaries over $100,000 and more, and that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a couple of weeks we have the operations plan. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do on the addictions issue. There was no capital investment for detox. Promised, but never delivered.

Will this Minister be working towards the operation plan in a few weeks, which is in about four weeks in early December? Will he be making a commitment in this House that he’ll work to deliver those detox beds in that plan? Otherwise, there should be a clear statement that this government is not interested in this issue.

The Minister’s binder would probably have a nice tab on this particular issue and I would encourage him to turn to that tab and read that page. Yellowknife continues to feel the cold shoulder of results and commitment by this government, especially on the issue of addictions. Northerners want addictions treatment.

Would the Minister read what the breaking binder page says on the tab and go to that tab and tell us what the Department of Health is doing on the detox issue?

This is not a new issue. I hear the Minister say he’s going to work on this. It’s well within his purview. He’s heard this concern many times. I can even hear on the microphone he’s being whispered to by somebody over there. Maybe somebody over there can help guide him with this immediate concern. I’d like immediate action.

Would the Minister be able to, at the very least, start a public campaign stressing the concern noted by the World Health Organization as well as the Skin Cancer Foundation, by stressing the risk that youth can have by doing tanning sessions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The World Health Organization has classified tanning beds as carcinogenic. The Skin Cancer Foundation qualifies it as ultraviolet tanning sessions increase a user’s chances of developing melanoma by 20 percent. Lastly, those who begin tanning before the age of 35 increase their chances of getting melanoma by almost 75 percent.

I keep raising the issue of tanning beds and the concerns on our youth. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is – this is not a new issue – what is he now going to do about this problem.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Movember is an annual month-long event including the growing of mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness about prostate cancer as well as other male cancer. The goal of Movember is to change the face of men’s health by encouraging men to get involved. Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and, certainly, effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths.

Besides getting annual checkups, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of any family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle...