Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Once upon a midnight dreary, whilst this Cabinet pondered weak and weary,

Over a quaint curious volume of forgotten lore, dreaming of pensions, travel… need I say more.

Whilst the Premier nodded, nearly napping, suddenly a Regular Member like myself came a rapping,

As of some, one gently rapping, upon the Cabinet door.

’Tis a Member with ideas, and community problems that needed to be solved,

Then the Premier muttered, tapping at my Cabinet door – Only this, he laughs, nothing more.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was a bleak December,

With the Members’ cap-in-hand, asking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice, and each is requesting information for the calendar years 2010, 2011 and 2012.

How many charges have been laid to individuals by the RCMP and then withdrawn or stayed?

How many charges have been laid under:

causing a disturbance;

breach of probation; and

breach of undertaking?

How many times has the Alternative Measures Program been proposed, how many times has it been accepted and how often have the program’s objectives been fully achieved?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly like what the Premier said. The only thing I would change, of course, is to define this more as a roadmap or blueprint towards the northern future that we all share an equal investment in. When I say that, I don’t mean just Members, I also mean Aboriginal governments, as well, because they are our partners into the future of the territory.

Does the Premier see in the short term a chance to bring all of these strategies together in a blueprint document? Whether it is called the Northwest Territories plan Nord or by any other name would certainly be welcome. Does the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions regarding Quebec’s Plan Nord, not specifically about it but what the Premier can do in regard to a Northwest Territories plan North. Although I tried to make a little spinoff of The Raven, which is written by Edgar Allen Poe, about the plight of Members trying to get the issues and the ears of the government, Plan Nord by Quebec is built around four major objectives which ensures the well-being of northern development for Aboriginal people in communities, achieve the immense economic potential of Quebec’s north, make the North accessible and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to offer special recognition to the Minister of Education today. We completed yet another capital with nary a dollar to plan for a stand-alone campus in Yellowknife for Aurora College.

Not only is there no money for this project, there is no timeline. The Minister seems content with the perpetual rental of the college at its current location. I can remember when this was a short-term solution because we were going to build a real campus. There was some real excitement and energy behind that prospects of where we were going next with northern education at the post...

Well, the results seem to prove otherwise, that education isn’t a priority of this particular Minister. When I asked him back on May 31, 2012, about actually laying a plan before the House, giving us some clear definitions of the partners, et cetera, on timelines, he wrote me a letter back, which I tabled in the House almost two weeks ago, and it shows nothing other than says they’re continuing the lease.

What can this Minister do by demonstrating real progress has been made on this particular file? What can he tell Northerners? What can he table before the House? What can he actually do to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year the Minister of Education said that his department was in the preliminary stages of finding partners and funds for the stand-alone Aurora College campus here in Yellowknife. Often we get inaction confused with incompetence, so the fact is we want to know what is actually happening.

Is anything being done? What progress, to date, could be placed before this House as results to getting a stand-alone college in Yellowknife?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In scouring the Hansard over the last five years, I found over 30 instances where the Minister keeps saying I’m doing discussion, plans, and it goes on and on and on. The Minister’s defence is we have other priorities. There seemed to be money when they wanted to build an office building downtown immediately. They put an office building over education. This is not a new issue.

I call, once again, for the Minister to answer the question. What is he going to lay before the House to prove that they’ve actually done something on the issue of trying to build a stand-alone...

As the Education Minister says, of a critical need, I would have thought the first thing out of his mouth would have been education is a critical need for Northerners, not excuses why we won’t move forward on this particular project.

What options, really, have been developed in advancing the Aurora College project, and what is he willing to put on the table today that shows us we’re moving forward, as opposed to backwards, under his leadership?

There are endless examples and I won’t go through them here, but the point is that the average consumer doesn’t believe it’s going to be a wash. I appreciate the Minister feeling very confident in his belief that many of these trucking companies and businesses will eat these costs. I haven’t heard anybody who actually believes that.

What type of public consultation can the Minister of Transportation do to show people where there will be savings and where there will be potential costs on the individual consumer? That’s ultimately the issue.