Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I wish the Minister would be the champion of this program as opposed to the Member having to be the champion of this program. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me how much money are we spending each year, every year, for the last several years sending people down south for treatment? I want to make sure we could maybe put this investment in the Territories. 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. As November is Special Olympics Month and in that spirit I wanted to make special mention of a constituent and their significant special achievement. Yellowknife Centre’s swimmer Terry Kuliktana was a member of Team Canada at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai in October. Kuliktana competed in three events and received a silver medal for his efforts in the hundred metre freestyle and two personal best times in his events. He had tremendous support from his training coaches in Yellowknife as well as his family and home community of Kugluktuk. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this rate, we can have a snow turning tomorrow. Everybody here is available. The ground is too frozen for a sod turning, but the fact is we could be making some type of announcement. We could be doing something now. We could demonstrate our commitment to this. So, Mr. Speaker, when will this be done? This has been sitting for a long time. When? All this work is accomplished and it is ready to go. So when are we going to do something and show that this project is a real project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to admit I didn’t really get anything from that answer. I have heard out on the street, my sources tell me that there was supposed to be a launch for late summer or early fall. There was supposed to be a groundbreaking ceremony. There was supposed to be a public announcement. There was supposed to be something happening on this project, but all of a sudden it has gone to just sort of some dead space. It has just stopped. So, Mr. Speaker, first of all, is this Minister assuring us or would she bow to this House to ensure that this project will be taken upon...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that. When can we expect this review done? Do we expect it done in a timely way so then we can look at hopefully supporting NACC in a more appropriate and more balanced way? Again, recognizing their infrastructure costs, needs and reflective of the costs and times we live in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.