Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the encampment again today, but I also want to talk about it from the perspective of the impacts on the community. And what I mean by that is the residents have to live next to them, businesses, and even in situations like such as yesterday, the museum, government, and other types of organizations, and private businesses in that. They have to be silenced. You can't have the museum director over here yelling do something here. No, government can't get away with that. But residents, let's start with that, Mr. Speaker. They have to listen...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The health Minister's pointing at the housing Minister. Mr. Speaker, I feel it's time to bring up the Pharmacy Act again. I haven't spoken about it in a little while so that will be going to the health Minister, not the housing Minister, despite her pointing the finger.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like an update as to where this particular work is given the fact that I've raised several times that this is an opportunity for us to save money as well as an opportunity to do business better; and lastly, everyone else in Canada, outside of the two territories, not three, two...

Okay, I like to use the phrase setting the table. Now we have a sense of what we're talking about. So here we go, Mr. Speaker.

Is the Minister aware of how often we actually have people who transition out of transitional housing into regular, private housing? In other words, we've helped them, and now that they're able to survive and proceed on their own? Could the Minister answer that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this number's one of those things you could make a lot of fun out of it. But to get right down to the nitty-gritty is is there a way to get this number revisited? Because I don't know anybody who could travel on medical travel and only eat their full day's worth of meals for $18. So in other words, would the Minister be willing to go back and look at the inflationary costs of what even a basic meal costs to ensure our citizens are treated fairly and respectfully? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently I was looking at the medical travel expense claim form, and I was looking at this form and I noticed the -- a constituent drew to my attention that the daily rate for meals is $18. It's hard to imagine, Mr. Speaker. And they pointed out to me, they said, you know, if I went to McDonald's, that would be the $18, buying a quarter pounder with cheese or, you know, some type of Big Mac, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is when was the last time this daily rate was ever looked at? Thank you, Mr. Speaker...

Good point, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a press release on May 25th of this year, talked about encampments, basically there they are, talked about inspections. I want to know what ECC is doing about inspecting these encampments to make sure they comply as the rules, such as the safety, proper use of public lands, complying with fire and waste safe guidelines. That falls under his purview and stewardship. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to talk about a very serious subject here right now. If you didn't know, I'm going to tell you there was a fire on the encampment next to the museum, Mr. Speaker. This is a very serious matter, even coming from me, Mr. Speaker. I'm trying to remain the right approach because it's frustrating. Yesterday I was raising the issue -- I wanted, actually, Mr. Speaker, to even have an emergency debate on this particular issue but our rules won't allow this because I didn't have an hour's notice to give notice to this particular problem.

Mr. Speaker, in...

Thank you. I'll take that olive branch, Mr. Speaker, because safety matters.

Mr. Speaker, the last piece I'll take and ask -- or sorry, the last piece I'll ask in this particular case, again speaks to my Member's statement, which is what are they going to do in recognition that you are the lead Minister on this homelessness issue to ensure that these encampments are inspected, people are safe, and we don't have another fire?

And lastly, Mr. Speaker, this was right next to a pile of propane tanks and I even heard that one went off. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to my Member statement where I talked about the housing policy and concerns lack thereof. It was built on my statement even as of yesterday and given the circumstances.

Mr. Speaker, why don't we start with a softball. Has anything I have said today resonated in a manner that the Minister is willing to go back and see if we can accelerate the encampment policy to ensure people are safe and whatnot, because I really know she's got a great shop there and they could do this without waiting to the spring of 2026. So did that hit a tone of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to inspections, it sounds like they don't happen, or they may happen sparsely. We've now had two encampment problems that had serious fires, and recently, as I pointed out, even today I saw piles of propane tanks. What does it take to have daily inspections from this department to ensure that they're safe on public lands, to make sure that they meet the guidelines highlighted in the press release on May 25th? Thank you.