Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s my opinion that buildings are far more than bricks and mortar. They can breathe life into our community and certainly a policy like this will breathe life into the institutions we know as government.

Mr. Speaker, a public art scale of this mass will change the culture and the way we do business and although it looks like a little piece of paper, I think it goes far beyond that. It will define us for generations to come.

From my time being a Member here for the last three years, the Leg is truly an example of doing things right and doing them upfront as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the Minister is dithering over these explanations because there is no intelligent transit system in the Northwest Territories. Again, there is no bike lane system in the Northwest Territories. Is he suggesting now that we are going to start funding bike paths on this transit money? Maybe we should get some clarification from the Minister on his context of what transit system means. I think that is the issue. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be clear on what transit system means, because we seem to mean everything under the sun? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Justice Minister, for that answer. Mr. Speaker, this is truly an important issue to me and it is an important issue to the citizens in Yellowknife Centre and, to no surprise, I’m sure the whole Northwest Territories. So I should put the Justice Minister on notice that I will truly be relentlessly pursuing this issue for the next several months to ensure that we will be bringing forward a safe neighbourhood enforcement tool to our enforcement people. So, therefore, would the Minister be willing to look at this act, look at a way of adopting this type of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, this legislation will empower the citizens to take back their neighbourhoods by reporting problem residences and businesses to the RCMP or whatever enforcement agency. This type of legislation needs to become in practice now. This would allow authorities to take immediate action about this addiction plague. It is time to put our residents’ safety first, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Justice Minister at the appropriate time to see how we can move quickly on a discussion paper and possibly a bill to implement...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Commissioner stated to the committee: “Secrecy and closed doors lead to corruption and bad government no matter how well intentioned governments may be. It is far easier as a member of the public to accept the bona fides of government when they seem to be open and willing to accept responsibility, even for bad news, than if they appear to be secretive.”

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Commissioner recommends that a link be provided from the Legislative Assembly web site to the directory of ATIPP coordinators as it is currently difficult to find on the Justice and GNWT web sites. She further recommends that a paper directory be made available throughout the NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As in previous reports, the Commissioner recommends the GNWT take the initiative to raise information and privacy issues in devolution discussions and with aboriginal governments in order to encourage them to include some form of regulation within their governance structures. She states that although there are likely to be cultural differences on many information and privacy issues, all peoples have the right to an open government, which requires access to records, and the right to expect a certain level of privacy.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the sixth year in a row, the Commissioner’s report speaks to the lack of information and privacy legislation for municipal governments.

The GNWT has identified concerns about the impact on day-to-day municipal operations and administration, costs, training and capacity as reasons why municipal information and privacy legislation cannot proceed at this time.

Municipal governments collect a substantial amount of personal information from residents and hold a great deal of information of interest to the public. The need for openness and transparency applies as much to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My apologies. I move that committee recommends that the Premier, Ministers and Financial Management Board make public statements supporting the principles of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and send clear messages to the public service about the importance of open and transparent government and the need to grant access to information unless there is a clear and compelling reason to do so.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my Member’s statement today, I would be tabling documents regarding the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act and I have three documents. The first one would be described as a summary of the act. The second document I have to table is the actual act itself from Saskatchewan. The third one is a presentation the Saskatchewan Justice department gave to the Yukon government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.