Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the most recent civic election here, we heard a lot about the problems of downtown. I am sure it is no surprise for the Minister of Health, and that he knows that many people will go without having a place to go home at night and many people are in the throes of addictions. Thankfully, of course, we have a downtown day shelter, which I am very grateful for. The fact remains that it is still only one component of a larger problem here that is on the ground.

Over the years I have heard lots of concerns from parents, citizens and constituents, as well as downtown...

On another issue, Mr. Bromley has brought this up and actually it’s not so much that I’m concerned on how he brought it up but it’s more about the perception of how it’s brought up. It’s about the city’s potential on the Con Mine heating system or how they want to do a central heating style system in Yellowknife; the city, that is. I often hear people at the city talk about how they’ve got all these partners in some form of some type of commitment, and it’s funny because when I talk to businesses downtown, they’re not interested in this. I don’t know who the city thinks they have on the hook...

I would like the assurances and commitment that the Minister will ensure that I’m copied in some way on this particular initiative as this policy gets developed. The reason being, there are a number of institutions, businesses, that is, that sell art in this community and they would view this as competing directly with them. I would want to make sure that their concerns are being represented. If it is to be on display, as I continue to maintain, I have no issue with art being on display, but the issue is that all of a sudden the assumption that while people are viewing it for potential sale...

No, thank you.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. In Saskatchewan, to name one, Ontario, to name two, and there are several others, they’re quite aggressive and provide kiosks and public advertisements all over the place saying you could do this type of service.

Quite frankly, what does “we’ll look at it” mean? The general public hears that answer almost the same as maybe yes, maybe no. It doesn’t really have an answer. What does his answer mean by “we’ll look at it”?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How many of us have sat in the waiting room at the motor vehicle office watching Food Network while we’re waiting to renew our driver’s licence or vehicle registration? And only if you’re from a large centre do you get that chance, because if you’re from a small centre you don’t have the chance to sit and watch the Food Network while you sit for a long period of time to get that driver’s licence renewed.

Quite frankly, this is a service that should be moving to go on-line. In many provinces across Canada, residents, in the comfort of their own homes, in front of their...

Mr. Chair, to the Minister, the obvious question is: When do you expect this to be a business case proposal presented to FMB? This problem that I am familiar with goes back two if not three years. I am curious as to why the department wouldn’t have actioned some form or request to this date. That may be a challenging question to answer, but the real issue is when do we expect the business case to be presented to FMB on this option? Thank you.

My next question is: This is a particular issue that I’ve raised with previous deputy ministers of Health, and I understood it from a similar sort of positioning on-the-ground perspective that they too saw the benefit of requesting that formal flexibility through FMB.

Has anyone ever written FMB to request this type of policy ability, or flexibility I should call it? Rather than treating it as a one-time process, request the authority to use it as an ongoing flexible option.

I mean, the way I see it, and this example may not be perfect for the exact circumstances we’re under today, but, I mean...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe we’re still in section 6.3, just to confirm?