Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, I want to specifically note and highlight the fact that the Minister didn’t mention chiropractic or massage therapists. I am not suggesting it isn’t in his list before him. With that said, would the Minister be willing to provide a detailed list as to whom they have spent time consulting with and when? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement today, I talked about the need for regulation and certainly legislation for the areas of chiropractic and massage therapy. There are a number of groups out there that have this request, such as naturopaths as well. There seems to be some consensus built around chiropractic and massage therapists that legislation could come in and we could develop some regulations to provide some public assurance that the government is watching and making sure that our citizens are protected. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. What...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of organizations representing health professionals in the Northwest Territories continue to ask for regulation of their sector. They continue, primarily, to come knock on the government’s door as opposed to the government telling them that they should be regulated, and that certainly needs to be noted.

Who am I talking about? The chiropractic and massage therapy groups are certainly leading and becoming champions on this particular issue, because they feel it’s very important to have clear regulations that protect themselves and our public.

It’s becoming very...

Thanks very much. The Minister had offered full disclosure here in some manner, of course, and those are my words, not his exactly, but would the Minister give a detailed breakdown of the $10 million, how it’s being spent in this regard. I had spoken quite at length, so I don’t need to repeat all my questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In March 2010, former Minister McLeod talked about signing a contract with Ruskin for $6 million to $8 million. Minister McLeod of the day, continues to refer to the firm schedule on the Deh Cho Bridge. My question for the Minister of today, that is: Who is still responsible for the Deh Cho Bridge contracts, certainly, the implementation that is, is why isn’t the fixed price and the fixed schedule being fulfilled by our contractor Ruskin on this particular project? Thank you.

I want to acknowledge the Finance Minister’s position of calling it a business decision. That sounds a lot nicer than the words I may have used. I’d like to make a motion. I move that this committee defer consideration on the activity highways under the Department of Transportation, capital investment expenditures, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2011-2013, on page 13, at this time.

Thank you. I’d like to use this occasion to the $10 million, or am I just ahead of myself?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to rise today to continue to speak about the Deh Cho Bridge and the fact that our contract is not being implemented as it was written out.

Back in 2010 the government heralded the new opportunity because of the situation that they had to work through the failed partnership with ATCON and they developed a new one with Ruskin directly. They negotiated a revised cost for this superstructure to complete the project, but at the time it was seen as the path forward.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to remind Members of the Honourable Michael McLeod’s comments in January 2010 in...

Earlier the Minister had assured me that, of course, they invoked the privilege of moving the motion to extend today’s sittings for as long as possible, and my point of that contradiction was knowing that one person cannot carry the fire forever. That’s what I meant about forcing the process to go. If we had followed through today’s normal schedule we would have ended at two o’clock, and we would have been able to get this type of information on the side, whether it’s in committee or have some discussions after hours. I feel terrible. I’m not trying to hold the process hostage here by any...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to use the opportunity now to speak to a couple of the other items on the list. I will start with the infrastructure projects that are seen as carry-overs. Frankly, I have been saying it for a number of years, that I am still convinced that the Department of Finance, through FMB, is allowing the capital budget to grow in the Northwest Territories in a manner that we can’t sustain. What I mean by that is we are taking on more projects than we can get done. I don’t consider an average 35 percent a good average of capital carry-overs. You will hear that some...