Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I should also say thank you to Mr. Miltenberger, too, for leaving the time on the clock.

The Minister of Health and Social Services sort of left I guess I’d say certainly me, and I can definitely feel confident with the public, with a big surprise answer with this, sort of, maybe yes, maybe no answer we’re going to fund the day shelter going forward. I’m asking for leadership on this particular file, because the day shelter has been heralded as a positive step forward on helping people in the homeless area that we need to help. What is holding the Minister back from...

Clearly, that is not the answer I am looking for per se, but at least finally we have an answer.

There is no plan to fund it beyond this coming end of fiscal year. If that is what the Minister is truly saying, then we should make sure we are clear.

I want to know today that the people going to this centre, that the businesses depending on this particular centre to provide homeless people opportunities and places to go, we need to be clear to the public that we are going to pull out from the process. Is the Minister saying clearly today that there is no funding in the upcoming budget for this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to use this occasion to refer back to my Member’s statement today when I talk about the downtown day centre. It is important that I continue to emphasize this. This is more like a territorial shelter that offers no programming as of yet, that I hope will happen, but it offers opportunity for people from around the North a place to go, who are homeless.

As I highlighted in my comments, there have been some stats taken that about a third of the daily users actually only identify themselves as Yellowknifers and it is the rest, actually, that sort of draws some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With 1,082 days and approximately 18 hours left in our term, there is still time for the Minister of Health to finally do the right thing. What is the right thing, you might want to ask. Well, it is still time to address the need for a treatment centre for people who are addicted to hard drugs such as crack, crystal meth and even prescription drug abuse. I am confident that I have raised this issue alone at least six or seven times in this term alone. I have mentioned this particular problem countless times in the last term of the 16th and even in the 15th Assembly, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to know a little more about this various group of people and when they’re expected to deliver a decision. I couldn’t quite hear the Minister’s last comment on his response, although I was listening very carefully. Is he expecting them to provide him a report that he can table here in the Legislative Assembly by the end of this particular year, and if that’s not the case, when will be the case that we’ll expect a report to be tabled with those types of recommendations, and who is this particular group that he can inform the public?

That’s certainly good news. I’m glad to hear that it sounds like we’re making headway on this particular file. This particular group that the Minister is able to form, which I have to admit this is public news now for everyone, is he able to describe what mandate this particular group has? Do they have the power to make the suggestion and provide a direction to the Minister of Health to build a treatment centre in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the people who solved the technical problem.

It gives me great pleasure to recognize some of the people who have already been recognized, but I think it’s important to highlight their contributions to the territory by mentioning them here.

I’d like to always recognize Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford, a personal friend and long-time friend of everyone in this building.

Mr. Speaker, Kim Doyle is now the new executive director of YK Seniors, and she served me very well as a constituency assistant. With her is Jeff Renaud, who hails from, I believe, Victoria, if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three things I would like to table. The first document I would like to table is a Members’ Code of Conduct with the WSCC Workers’ Appeals Tribunal. This is in response to a particular question I raised in the House in May, where research found no conflict of interest policy at the time, but that has been since corrected. I would like to thank Mr. Colin Baile for his assistance and appreciating this particular problem at this time.

The second item I would like to table and the third item are related, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a letter to me from Minister...

I’m talking about a particular mandate that this group would be empowered with. If they decide that the treatment problem is significant enough, as I’ve been saying for nine years, that people have said over the last six weeks during the municipal elections, people said over four weeks of the last territorial election, that half the population of the Northwest Territories is expecting some type of response on this particular issue. If they say a treatment centre is needed, what is the Minister of Health and Social Services willing to do?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked yet again about the concern of the lack of a treatment centre here in the Northwest Territories. I’m committed behind this problem in such a way that it doesn’t have to happen here in Yellowknife; it can happen anywhere that it can be properly resourced to treat people who have problems. Yes, as the Member for Yellowknife, it would be nice if it was here, but I care about the problem more than where it shows up. That’s what’s truly important. I’ll make a deal with the Minister of Health today. I’ll stop nagging about this issue if...