Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last term I talked about the need for a territorial arts and cultural achievement award evening. It could be a focus or a way we could pinnacle our arts achievements throughout the Northwest Territories; whether it be culture, whether it be in the sense of visual arts, whether it be crafts. Mr. Speaker, the former Minister of Education, Culture and Employment was supportive of this initiative and, of course, the department, as I understood it, was working towards something. I’d like to ask the new and current Minister of the Department of Education, is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Where is it on the departmental priority list, the internal priority list, Mr. Speaker, on establishing a treatment centre here in Yellowknife and in Inuvik? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today, I talked about the need for residential treatment programs here in the Northwest Territories that focus in on youth and family. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services was on this side of the House last term, so she is well aware that a motion that went forward that supported the treatment centre built in Yellowknife and in Inuvik and, of course, underlying all of that, not only being the Minister now, she had the experience of being the chair of the Social Programs so she understands the need of these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the people concerned about the 12 outstanding issues I don’t think are in any way concerned about the bridge in principle. It is more about the nuts and bolts of this agreement to make sure it is online and on track. So, Mr. Speaker, I heard the willingness of the Minister to provide this. I just want to get some timelines on when we can actually see this document in front of us so we can really understand the fullness of what has been fully committed to this project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, no one’s suggesting we have to reinvent the new wheel. This type of law exists all over Canada, all over the U.S., so I’m not sure what we’re going to sort of reinvent. The fact is, this Minister could agree to a discussion paper before February so that we can fully address this issue and build it into the priorities. So would the Minister agree to commit to building a discussion paper so that we can look at the fullness of the issue and how it can possibly be implemented in this term? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, again, if you buy a house, it’s probably the largest purchase you’ll ever make. But if you find out, later on, the foundation’s cracked, it’s full of mould, and you’ve been sold a song that it’s the best house in the world and all of a sudden you find out that, you know, no one will ever want to buy your house again and the fact that you can’t get insurance, you may run into trouble even getting a mortgage. Mr. Speaker, there’s no protection for these large purchases and that could break a hard-working family. So would the Minister agree that this is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to address an issue of growing concern in my constituency and the North. In the booming market of real estate, cars and telemarketing, it is obvious that the NWT legislative framework to protect consumers from scams does not go far enough. This leaves consumers vulnerable and allows for dishonest practices to go unchecked in the NWT. Consumers need to be fully protected. Current NWT laws do not require disclosure on the integrity of a house or used car and there are no regulations for telemarketing. Our protection laws are minimal and we are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, if the Minister would like, I could provide him, too, as soon as we go upstairs, my couple of constituents. But the fact is, it isn’t so much that as we should be making sure we’re protecting our constituents. If this isn’t a priority, I don’t know what one is, Mr. Speaker, especially when he knows how difficult it can be. So the fact is, can the Minister bring back, before February, some kind of discussion paper to correct this problem, this lack of protection that we have for our consumers out there? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wrote the Minister of MACA some time ago about my concerns about our lack of disclosure laws and consumer protection laws. The Minister wrote me back yesterday and I want to first thank the Minister for agreeing with me, because it’s quite obvious that the Minister denial training program hasn’t taken full effect yet because he did agree with a Member without a big study of saying no, no, nothing’s wrong. I see the Premier looking now.

---Laughter

Wait a minute; he’s going to recall the letter. But in the letter, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of MACA pointed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would, first of all, thank the Minister for her commitment on that, but the fact is that it is not a difficult process because I have a two-sided paper. If they are looking for a lengthy bureaucratic approach, I will walk across the way and hand them the paper. We could do this today. We need a policy today so we can start this mechanism today. It is not a lengthy one. Would the Minister clearly say yes they will move forward on this and have something so we can discuss maybe in the next session in February? Thank you.