Robert Hawkins

No, Mr. Speaker. I was raising --

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second written question is with respect to cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, Northerners across the territory continue to face growing and persistent pressures from the high cost of fuel, food, housing, and other essential goods and services, challenges that are especially acute in remote and small communities where supply chains are limited and affordability options are few. My questions are for the Premier:

Can a list of programs and services be provided that support lowering the cost of living across departments?

What immediate, short-term affordability measures are the...

Mr. Speaker, these are very simple, uncomplicated questions. They're not tied up with hypotheticals or trickiness. They are honest and genuine questions.

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister suggesting that the department is incapable to responding in a timely way to Members?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday -- I believe it was yesterday; every day feels like a Monday around here some days.

Mr. Speaker, yeah, I believe yesterday I was asking questions about the dental review officer and the fact that I even stumbled across a point in one of the information that we have an annual contract in the range of $25,000 with him. So there is a direct relationship with the GNWT. I'd submitted a bunch of questions on, I believe, February 11th, and I am still waiting for those answers. Can the Minister update the House, and particularly obviously me -- because we have a lot of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 3rd, I had questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and she didn't answer the question, but she didn't also offer, at the very least, a chance to follow up in writing.

Mr. Speaker, specifically, I was asking about doctors, GP doctors, and the referrals, as well as a bunch of other things. But, ultimately, I am asking about capacity levels. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services speak to the capacity levels of the general practitioner doctors here in the Yellowknife area over the past 12 months? In other words, what's the vacancy and how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was even able to bring a delegation to the Minister some time ago about making changes to support parents who have to constantly take time off of work, and one parent, in particular, takes one out of five days a week; so in other words, they're losing 20 percent of their income.

Mr. Speaker, what programs can the Minister expand to ensure that parents aren't taking real income out of their family's bottom line and work with the schools to ensure that they have fair and equal coverage for their children to get supports through the schools? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly glad to hear what she said. Of course, I welcome that type of positive answer, but I would also now lean into the area of we have many people in the working poor bracket that don't meet the low-income threshold, Mr. Speaker. Is there any reason why the Minister can't take an income test off this particular initiative to ensure all children have the right to play and enjoy and grow with the best of their abilities that they can. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, and most importantly, Northerners today, Mr. Speaker, as always of course, our system of consensus government at times can be a source of pride and on occasion we look to the parliamentary traditions and Indigenous values to guide us as we get to our outcome. While the Assembly operates with sometimes good consensus and sometimes less good consensus, we do our best to get there without an adversarial way but, unfortunately, winner takes all sometimes is the end result.

Right now, we use first-past-the-post system to elect MLAs to this chamber, despite the fact that the...

And, finally, Mr. Speaker, one of my most favourite subjects I would like to raise here, the senior envoy.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has appointed a senior envoy to the Government of Canada to strengthen intergovernmental relations and advance territorial priorities, they say. My questions are for the Premier:

Can the Premier provide a month-by-month breakdown of all individuals and organizations the Senior Envoy has met with in the calendar year 2025, identifying the names and positions of those met, along with the dates, locations, and purposes of each meeting or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise with pleasure. I have 23 written questions today -- I'm kidding; I have three. It's nice to see people are paying attention.

So, Mr. Speaker, my first written question today is regarding the Mackenzie Valley Fiber Optic Line.

Mr. Speaker, there are concerns that the Mackenize Valley Fiber Link (MVFL) is not building capacity and growing the economy as required. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Strategic Energy, Infrastructure and Supply Chains:

There are concerns that the Mackenize Valley fiber link (MVFL) is not building capacity and growing the...