Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be directed to the Minister of ECC with respect to encampments. There was a press release -- I'll get everyone to go to the Wiki page to find out who he is. He doesn't get a lot of questions here. So I want to see him rise here; I know he'll do a good job.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I know this Minister has the ability to do this and I know the policy shop exists and I know they have the talent to go liberate wording and structure from everything. Is there any reason that the Minister couldn't agree today that she could come up and table a draft policy by the last day of this session? That gives just over a week to come up with something and we can put a footnote saying and we're still going to develop this in partnership with our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, and we would have something in place to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I've sent this Minister directly concerns under his justice portfolio hat of the encampment downtown and causing concerns. There's even pictures out there of piles of jerry cans sitting there. Mr. Speaker, what does it take for this Minister to get over there and inspect these encampments? If we're going to allow them to happen, to ensure that they're safe so that no one dies in this situation. Because that's the last thing we want, and it'll be such an impossible situation to take back. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the record, they're an adult. Secondly, they're under control and custody. In other words, they have a release date. They have to stay there just to make sure we're in contact. Mr. Speaker, I guess I'm really asking is, can the Minister make sure that there's protocols, that we just don't dump them on the street, you know, a van pulls up, throws them out and says good luck. Because people are at their -- you know, as they approach healthy stage, I just don't want to put them back in the next most difficult challenging experiences. Can we ensure that that policy is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the last part of the question was actually exactly where the Minister just went, which is I'm concerned about the declaration made by people in absence of a policy. So in other words, they say shelters aren't safe, they have nowhere to go, they say we can't cohabitate with their partners, which in a lot of ways is wrong, but we don't have shelters that respond that. Will this new policy take into effect that if people are making declarations of that nature or citing these types of concerns, we can come up with a policy that is flexible but sensitive enough...

Alright, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to have the occasion, of course, now to return to my Member's statement, not fully, obviously, but the subject I raised, which is the encampment fatigue process and the formalizing of a policy so we know what we're working with. So, Mr. Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister of housing, of course, as you can imagine, and I'd like to ask her, what can we do about getting -- or I should say, what can we do about creating a transparent policy on encampments? Because, Mr. Speaker, there seems to be a variety of responses, and some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear the Minister isn't defending smoking in public housing units. I said I'm glad you aren't defending. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I guess two parts to it is why are we waiting, and is there exemptions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about encampment fatigue, Mr. Speaker. And to be clear, a lot has changed in this particular narrative. I remember even speaking to some constituents, you know, a year ago, fervent supporters of that, and as those encampments get closer to their area, it's funny how quickly that feeling changes and frustration.

Mr. Speaker, people care about the challenges, but they also want something done. The community is facing these challenges of unsanctioned encampments. They see problems where they threaten public health, safety, quality of life, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, colleagues.

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AND WHEREAS the...