Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I promised earlier, I do have my thought-provoking questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, status quo has truly become the norm. The one-year land lease-only policy is probably up to 16 years of life. The roadblocks for the City of Yellowknife are still being put in front of them because they need land to develop in a reasonable way. They try to work with the Yellowknives. Will the Minister provide an update on the status of discussions between himself and the Yellowknives Dene on how the City’s land requests are coming...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight met on October 11, 2005, to review Bill 6, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2005. This act makes minor amendments to a number of statutes. Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 6 as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 6. Individual Members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I formally have to compliment the Minister because there wasn’t any rhetoric in that. That was action I heard. Finally we are getting down to the nitty-gritty. I would like to add one more initiative we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, granted we can’t control the market rates of the fuel out there, but we can do something. Is this Minister going to lead with direction from his position as chair of the FMB and attach a performance appraisal to all deputy ministers under this initiative to show that their management in this situation is attached to their bonuses?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on the heels of my Member’s statement given earlier today. I asked the Finance Minister, Minister Roland, last year what this government is doing to monitor energy consumption, referring to both power, fuel and oil with respect to GNWT assets. He replied that the government, through budgeting exercises, looked at the consumption of our resources, whether it be heating oil, electrical, water and sewer targeted areas where the government thinks it could be saving. Does the Minister of FMB have any numbers indicating the savings that the government has achieved...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am pleased to be back in this House today after a long break doing constituency work, et cetera. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a warm welcome to Mr. Lafferty from Monfwi. I’ve known him a long time, since our Akaitcho Hall days, and I can say truly that he’ll be a great contribution to this House and to the Tlicho people. I can say that with a full heart.

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to bring up the fact that almost a year ago today I rose on a statement to express deep concern about world oil prices and the effects that can cause crises elsewhere...

All I can say is the Premier will expect that question tomorrow, so that’s his notice on this question.

Mr. Speaker, to ensure maximum conservation on the part of this government, given the new reality, I want to hear what this Minister has to say about mandatory reporting and monitoring of all government agencies, boards and departments. Do we do this? If not, why not? What do we do with this information that we get to ensure we conserve to our maximum ability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. We’ve all heard the saying many hands make light work. We all know if these many hands turn off those light switches that I talked about or turned off those ignitions to stop making cars idle, we will save a lot of money. So those many hands will be contributing to those lower costs to run these facilities and cars. So my concern last year was what was their policy and action plan. We now find ourselves in peril where fuel prices are skyrocketing. So my question for the Minister is -- and all residents of the Northwest Territories want to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a pleasure that I recognize three constituents that I could see from my vantage point. The Right Reverend Bishop Sperry; one of my favourite feisty seniors, Ed Jeske; and Lydia Bardak who wears so many hats there is nowhere to start. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two written questions. The first written question is to the chairman of the Financial Management Board.

Would the chairman consider creating a task force to look at how end-of-year expenditures by department can be better controlled to ensure public money is not being spent for unnecessary items or to avoid lapsing funds?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m sorry for those that had to read the Hansard because I was sort of lost due to being overwhelmed on getting that last one. So, Madam Speaker, my only question now to the Minister, which should be quite easy for him, is when can I get these responses? Thank you, Madam Speaker.