Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise because I have some concerns about some of the questions, about this lease with the Centre Square Mall downtown for the Legal Services Board; however, my concerns are not quite like the other Member. I actually feel completely dismayed by some of the suggestions.

We keep hearing about the 15-year lease, but it is a five-year lease. So I think we need to get some of these misleading facts out there so they are absolutely crystal clear.

Mr. Speaker, I hear that Legal Services Board is satisfied, so my question to the Minister is, could he clarify on the criteria...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. The words positive, standards, centralized and even sometimes the words harmonization of standards of how we implement things and how we run things and coordinate things come to mind when I think of this, but, Mr. Speaker, would the Minister give me an indication as to when he will bring that discussion to Cabinet in regard to the folding in of the NWT Housing Corporation into the greater picture, the greater good of the TSC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues, especially the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, it is time that we move from a voluntary compliance to a mandatory policy. I would like to see the Minister responsible for FMBS work with the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation to create a mandatory policy where we bring the Housing Corporation into the fold with the rest of the government. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will have questions for the appropriate Minister later during oral question period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the technology services centre, also referred to as the TSC, and their current voluntary compliance with that centre.

Mr. Speaker, since I was elected in the 15th Assembly last year, I have been quite vocal about my support for the TSC. I believe that this position is shared by many of my colleagues here in the House. Today, in this day and age, IT services are absolutely vital in running a government bureaucracy. As everyone knows, it takes up a big piece of our budget.

In the 2004-05 Main Estimates, Mr. Speaker, we spent about...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure if it really matters, because the fact is accessible living should be accessible living, so it should be considered a standard regardless of which envelope they fall under. Mr. Speaker, I will make a true commitment that the landlord did make an effort: they widened doors and they put in bigger showers. But, Mr. Speaker, when I have a person in a wheelchair who can't even reach his towel, he has to throw it on the floor or half in the shower. My question really is what policy do we have under the responsibility of the Housing Corporation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be brief. I, too, wish to acknowledge the great efforts that the NWT seniors’ team put forward by recognizing them, as well. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister is saying, but, Mr. Speaker, my constituents have bare cupboards. Their cupboards are bare. I will say clearly why: because they can’t reach them, Mr. Speaker. I went into one unit; the dishes were dirty because they can’t wash them. Every time they reach over the counter, their arms are halfway in the buckets of water in the sink. Mr. Speaker, if you were one of these constituents of mine, and you are trying to get food out of the oven, and you are in a wheelchair or on a scooter or stroller because you have MS, you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise because I have some serious concerns with our social housing policy in my constituency. Mr. Speaker, I have been invited to go downtown to visit some of my constituents who are disabled, and they showed me personally the access they have into their homes, and showed me the difficulties they have with living in these horrific circumstances. I think the policy, as it's designed right now, if there is a policy -- which I will be asking the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation -- is very degrading, because I don't think folks are living in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services and it is going to be quite a frank question. When will this family receive the services needed for this child? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to take a moment to thank the honourable Member for Nahendeh; apparently there were two reports to read in and he gave me the longer of the two.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I would like to read the review of the Languages Commissioner’s Annual Report 2003-2004.

The Official Languages Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in 1984. The act guarantees equal status for the use of Canada’s two official languages for members of the public using government programs and services. The act also officially recognized the...