Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Mr. Roland’s fiscal update yesterday to the people of the Northwest Territories, there were two potentially positive announcements that could have a positive impact and a serious effect on our capital infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. The first was the $18 million increase in the operating surplus for the last fiscal year, and the second was the commitment by the federal government to respond to a request to remove the $300 million debt limit by the end of this year.

Mr. Speaker, two things arise out of this. The first one is, I’m definitely concerned that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions, on the orders of the day for one question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to hear the Minister’s list of priorities, because I am not sure we have another need out there that demands such a high priority as our dementia facility. We need to be treating people in a proper facility suited to this specific need. Will the Minister tell me today, where are his priorities on this facility in comparison to any other priorities? Is it the top priority of his department to get this dementia facility built in a timely way in the city of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today, as well as on many other occasions, I speak about the need to ensure that we have a territorial dementia centre built sooner rather than later. Mr. Speaker, it is a serious concern that I have that there may not be funding in this upcoming capital budget plan for our next budget fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is, what is the current status of the territorial dementia centre facility that is supposed to be a partnership between the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This situation reminds me of the old saying that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. Mr. Speaker, the public picks us, our friends pick us, our families pick us to all come to this Assembly as a family and to work together. Like many things, events in real life, things happen that we regret. I can personally tell you that I regret seeing what happened yesterday. I can feel the concern that Mr. Ramsay has. You can hear it in his voice.

That said, I also feel the sincerity from the Minister of his regret, because he made it quite clear, without...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I would have to ask the Minister if he could explore the B.C. solution. He was saying something along the lines that we could do that. He did point out that we don’t offer PST and they do and they look at rolling back the PST, so the consumer can save. So I am not sure where we can really benefit from that. The Minister did say something along the lines of resources being a problem. I will tell you, I put my priorities in order personally and I think the government should. Mr. Speaker, we have a department that spends over $50 million, at least 40 percent of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I would have to ask the Minister if he could explore the B.C. solution. He was saying something along the lines that we could do that. He did point out that we don’t offer PST and they do and they look at rolling back the PST, so the consumer can save. So I am not sure where we can really benefit from that. The Minister did say something along the lines of resources being a problem. I will tell you, I put my priorities in order personally and I think the government should. Mr. Speaker, we have a department that spends over $50 million, at least 40 percent of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was reading my Member’s statement earlier today to talk about other provinces offering smart environmental consumer programs, hopefully I was beginning to make it a little obvious that the NWT was lacking from that list, Mr. Speaker. So everyone is doing something but the NWT. Mr. Speaker, I believe in good environmental practices. I certainly believe in good environmental programs that speak to that. So, Mr. Speaker, with that said, I would like to hear from the Minister of Environment. Can he tell me today what incisive actions his department is taking to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was reading my Member’s statement earlier today to talk about other provinces offering smart environmental consumer programs, hopefully I was beginning to make it a little obvious that the NWT was lacking from that list, Mr. Speaker. So everyone is doing something but the NWT. Mr. Speaker, I believe in good environmental practices. I certainly believe in good environmental programs that speak to that. So, Mr. Speaker, with that said, I would like to hear from the Minister of Environment. Can he tell me today what incisive actions his department is taking to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we always have lists that we study to death. What I am asking for is a clear commitment from this Minister today. Yes or no; will we put action behind this? Will we make this a decisive decision in this House today to find ways to find good sensible programs for people to help them make environmentally sound choices? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.