Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use the occasion to recognize a couple of constituents and thank them for being here today. That would be Cappy and Larry Elkin. They are certainly well-known stalwarts in our community here in Yellowknife, and volunteering with the Special Olympics is just one of many things of a long list of things that they do in our community.

Like my other colleagues, I too wish to acknowledge Mr. Don Bubar and his team from Avalon. I appreciate their investment in the North, I appreciate their interest in the North, and certainly their efforts to make strong...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking in favour, and certainly voting in favour, of this particular motion. First off, I want to thank Mr. Dolynny for his significant amount of work that he’s put behind this initiative. It’s easy to be able to read off the motion here, but what the public doesn’t see is how much work he put behind the scenes and how many questions he’s taken to Members, and how he has brought it forward in a stronger version from the very first moment he said he wanted to bring forward this type of initiative. He did that in a very collaborative approach, so I think he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2003 there was a fatal accident in the Chan Lake area. The experience was much the same as what happened here recently. As I understand, back in 2003 there was a response that the government led, so MACA initiated a new policy protocol called Highway Emergency Alerting Protocols. Could the Minister inform this House exactly what they are?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use today’s occasion to talk about the Electoral Boundaries Commission. Like other colleagues of this House, I think it’s very important to make sure we echo our concern and draw out the process for people. We can’t use this as an opportunity missed. We have to use this as an opportunity to grab a hold of. Democracy is so important, the worst thing we could do is ignore it because we’d hate to put it at risk.

The commission is asking for the public’s input. As we often say, silence is assent. That’s why it’s so critical for the commission to get a good, robust...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a document from the Minister of Finance addressed to me. The date is February 6, 2013. It’s regarding a potential breach of the FAM 3307, Aircraft Chartering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks. Again, speaking about the process here – and that’s what I’ve been concerned about all along – yes, I asked for a plain language document in the House repeatedly last week to the Minister. Of course, he avoided answering the question the best he could, but what the public saw and what they responded to me was the fact that we needed a plain language document out there in the public, no matter how funny it seems to the Minister, so we can get these types of input and value on these projects, because some of the issues, I have to tell you, I’m not fully experienced in these areas. So I...

Mr. Chairman, I’m running out of time, and I know that Members will be moving a motion here shortly, so not to be too far in my anticipation, but on the $5 million, I will support, but at the same time, I do want to ask more questions during the $60 million portion.

That said, I’m just concerned about the way $5 million is being asked for this late in the game because it’s in this fiscal year. Quite frankly, the reflection in getting here is we are trying to make some type of financial commitment, contract, as quickly as possible. Everybody knows it won’t be spent by this fiscal year and that...

I am curious on how the department is familiar with construction techniques on this area of permafrost. As we all know, Highway No. 3 has its I’ll call it technical challenges rather than laden it with some description probably fair and certainly unfair. That said, the constant excuse I’ve heard was the reason Highway No. 3 is the way it is in its own state is the ice lenses. I believe it was interesting terminology picked out of the air a number of years ago to explain why the permafrost is fluxing and the matter of the ice lenses. Those were Department of Transportation words, so I don’t...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the first time I’ve spoken to this particular issue. I was going to parcel my comments on the $5 million and keep them separate from the $60 million portion, which is on the next supplementary appropriation. I can appreciate the fact that Members had to speak to both at the same time.

I’m certainly in a peculiar position when I think of this project, because, to be frank, I feel that not any one person, I should say it that way, but I feel, to some degree, like we’ve been painted into a corner that if we question the project, that we’ve been seen as questioning...

I’m not seeing the gap here. If we told everybody how much we have for this particular road estimate, our fine work all done. Of course, a $300 million road, everyone knows what it’s worth and we’re going to negotiate a contract. What’s to stop the joint venture from asking for, in all intents and purposes, the full $300 million?