Robert Hawkins

How many politically-appointed GNWT staff are able to work remotely from outside the NWT who are paid more than the Prime Minister of Canada?

Well, Mr. Speaker, I'll ask the same question. The Prime Minister of Canada's paid about $300,000. I believe the base pay of all MPs is about $200,000, and he receives a hundred thousand additional on top. That's how you get to 300,000. So now that we've set the table, Mr. Speaker, the question still stands, how many politically-appointed GNWT staff are paid more than the Prime Minister of Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some Tree of Peace adult ed students I'd like to recognize, three of them in particular. We have first Jasmine Powder. Secondly, I have Anastazie Goulet. And the third, and certainly not least, Margo Remnant. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a great pleasure supporting a motion like this. I think it's in -- I think it's key to some of the mandate many of us has been running on, and I would certainly say, you know, I feel like saying hi, my name is Robert, I'm a healthcare supporter. It's been 560 days since my last election, and I've been fighting for better health care. It's 859 days until my next election, and I'll still be fighting for healthcare improvements, Mr. Speaker. You know, it's just this ongoing fight but, you know what, I promise to be relentless to the end. Actually, that's one of my...

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there's a law or an area you can cite called mischief and hence why don't we send the authorities down and work with them and say we'll deal with this problem under the mischief. It's the catchall of statements and charges, Mr. Speaker. Because we have families -- and just to be clear, when I say held hostage, held hostage by the noise, the intensity, the irregularity, and the frustration that they can't sleep, they can't live healthily. That's what I mean about being held hostage, not physically bound, just to be clear.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll follow up with the Premier with a similar line of questioning. He brought it up. So knowing that there's an encampment downtown, I brought it to the attention of several Ministers, not directly to the Premier, but I have no doubt he is well aware of it. You know, and I'm concerned that if the government starts providing food, water, toilet, security, etcetera, it becomes entrenched.

So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the Premier is doing or instructing through his government through various departments about removing the current encampment that's downtown to a...

Mr. Speaker, let's start with not typical. Massive fire evacuation. Not typical? Find a way to remove everyone on your own. And furthermore and lastly, Mr. Speaker, the direction of oh, sorry, the plane you've arranged on your own without a plan, without support from us, we're commandeering it. You're right, none of it was typical. And in some ways, Mr. Speaker, not fault, but we have to figure out these things.

So, Mr. Speaker, knowing the situation, would the Minister go back and review the situation to see if they can assess on why this outstanding amount is still there and, furthermore...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 2023 evacuation, Avens was forced -- not of their own volition, but they were forced by the government to evacuate 57 vulnerable residents with little to no assistance. Mr. Speaker, they were even in carriage of people from Hay River and Fort Smith who needed that specialized care, and they were all too happy to do so, to support them. Avens was forced to cover a cost of $1.3 million that they had to take a mortgage out.

Now, after some long discussion, the government agreed to carry -- sorry, cover $900,000. They left 30 percent shortfall. That's...

Mr. Speaker, we all know that -- we all know who this envoy is, but we don't know where the envoy is. He has no office, not on the GNWT website. Nobody knows anything about how to track him down but he's worth $440,000, the top paid -- top paid --