Robert Hawkins

Mr. Chairman, as I understand it, there is a Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program, I believe, in the range of $2.5 million. It has been reduced by approximately $2.1 million. I would just like to find out or have the FMB Minister put on record where that $2.1 million will show up or who is getting it or where it is going.

The Minister is correct in the sense that when you take the $43,000 and you take out the $14,000 for salary increases, you’re left with the $29,000. But the $29,000 divided by four judges and 12 months works out to almost precisely a $562 increase in insurance fees. I’m just trying to get a sense of…. I don’t know anybody’s insurance that costs $562 for life. This is an additional increase. I’m just trying to make sense of this. It’s difficult for me to go out there and look people in the eye and say, “Well, we’ve just bumped up the insurance for judges for another almost $562.”

I want to know...

Mr. Speaker, as we all are aware, there are many appointments to boards, agencies and commission positions that are either the responsibility of the G.N.W.T. or are done through statutory appointments by this Assembly. I believe that, except for cases where either specialized knowledge, circumstances or skills are required, every effort should be made to appoint Northern residents to these positions and that a condition of such an appointment require ongoing residency in the N.W.T. If a person moves outside of the Northwest Territories, as we’ve recently seen using the example of one of our...

Mr. Chairman, I think this is an example of where we’re sending people to Edmonton, to the Capital Health Authority, for a service that I think we could provide here at a similar cost. If we’re going to pay $664,000 for this, if you’re adding the cost of the assessment, not including the travel and whether it’s getting somebody out of a community, which costs even more than it costs to get out of Yellowknife, probably double or triple…. If you have to send somebody with an escort or if it’s court-ordered, whether you have to send them with a professional such as somebody from the sheriff’s...

Sorry, Mr. Chairman. You flew through page 14 a little too quickly. I had a question on a couple of items on page 14.

Mr. Chairman, if I got that right, we had 607 assessment days in total. Now, was that all court ordered? What is the cost of a psychiatric professional if they were to be staffed at this end? Thank you.

My concern is what the Minister just pointed out right there. She read the letter and she reviewed the letter, but I’m concerned it wasn’t written by the Minister or with the intent to call it what is was.

“There’s a phone number here. They can call in.” Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about taking the responsibility one level further. I’m sure employees aren’t too busy to call folks once every three months to make sure they’re doing okay.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister again: will she move forward by setting up a policy that encourages our staff to get out there? When someone goes through treatment...

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister has offered to do there, and I’ll take his commitment on that.

Can I get a sense of the timeframe on when he expects that — updates, or the act to be made public — so we can have some public discussion on that? Further, can he assure me that he will deliver any updates on those suggestions to me as soon as possible?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that. But one of the issues I highlighted in my Member’s statement is that if somebody gets a job — and let’s say they’re a renter here in Yellowknife, and they get a job maybe somewhere in Nunakput, like my good colleague here — they have to break their lease. What if they’ve just signed a year’s lease? This isn’t a hypothetical question, because this actually does happen. So they’re forced to pay out the remainder of the lease if they want to take a great job advancement somewhere else. The protection doesn’t exist to allow them…. They only get out of...

Today I will speak on behalf of many of my constituents who rent their accommodations in Yellowknife Centre.

The Residential Tenancies Act allows landlords to raise the rents once per year with adequate notice. This puts tenants at a disadvantage when it comes time to renegotiate a lease. They can be left in a position with little options: they can be offered a 12-month lease with a rental increase, or they can enter into a month-by-month lease with even a larger increase.

The problem arises as to whether you commit yourself to a long-term lease and realize some savings, or you lose the...