Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister elaborate a little further, such as does he anticipate that he’ll look into this right away or is it one of those little things that will hang there and say someday we’ll take a look at it; we’re not against it, but maybe we’ll be for it? So could the Minister, sort of, elaborate a little further on his answer? Because my expectations are reasonable but certainly are there now. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in information that’s been sent to me it says basically it’s at the discretion of the lending agency. So I’m really curious what MACA is doing as they watch this evolve. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about Payday Loans and the need for territorial regulations. Mr. Speaker, it is in the middle of the month. What does a person have to do if they are short of cash? Well, in Canada, there is a $2 billion industry out there to help. They are eager, Mr. Speaker. This conventional short-term lending isn’t available by the big banks so a person has to go to one of those short-term lending agencies often referred to Payday Loans. Now remember this, Mr. Speaker, convenience does come at a price. It is a short-term loan and you have to promise to pay it...

Mr. Chairman, points of order are the next item on the agenda.

Mr. Chairman, the Minister highlighted some interesting things in his opening comments and I just wanted to sort of acknowledge them. I’d like to hear a little more under the Transportation Licence Plate Program to find out when exactly that launch is predicted. A couple of years ago I suggested that we use our tourism catch phrase on our licence plate and I’m not sure what’s evolved from that other than the fact that the Licence Plate Program would start off with some new ones and I’m just curious if we’ve gone with a bit of a...

Where does that fund sit at financially right now? Have proposals come out of this type of initiative and how much are we talking about could be available for someone who wanted to present a proposal to start one of these types of projects? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I was glad to hear the Minister mention some barrel recovery. I’ve often said that we should put a bit of a head tax on those types of things such as if someone brings back these empty barrels that have been dumped all over the land. As an example, we give $50 per one that returns, and that’s only an example. I don’t know if that’s feasible or if that’s too low either. I don’t know. I’ve asked for this concept to be thought through, because I think this could provide an excellent opportunity to get some of these things in. You know, when people are coming home off the land, they...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a couple areas I’d like to follow up on. Maybe first I’ll follow up on a question raised by Mr. Yakeleya that I do support. It is about removing the old cars and derelict cars or vehicles, whatever the case may be, from the communities along certainly the Mackenzie where they’re accessible. I view it a little bit different in this particular case, but it’s the same problem. Is it possible that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources could foresee potential out there that they could organize something that could draw the cars down to, for example...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps pointing that they talked to them, and that’s right. I mean, YK No. 1 talks to the deputy minister of Education all the time. And as a matter of fact, I bet they talk about schools and educational programs and infrastructure all the time. So, Mr. Speaker, that’s a fair observation, but we’re really coming down to the nuts and bolts of this, which is the consult and the report and the plan. So ultimately, I want to make sure that they get in contact with the YK No. 1 school board. That’s all I’m asking. That’s all that needs to be done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the Minister making it quite clear there is no, sort of, immediate safety concern for the kids, and I wasn’t trying to portray it in that light, but the fact is, these are the types of upgrades that the school system feels is a priority. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has a deferred maintenance policy program and I’d like to know where these two schools sit in the territorial Deferred Maintenance Program, how much is booked against them for the two schools and where does that put the balance of the deferred maintenance of these types of...

Does this educational review take into account the significant amount of deferred maintenance on these two schools that is outstanding to date?