Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, maybe can I get some understanding of why they would refuse to comply with our direction provided by our engineer at the particular time? I think it is cited in March. Is he saying if our associated engineers instructed Ruskin to comply with a schedule, why would they refuse to comply with the schedule? What grounds would they have with the ability to refuse a contractual schedule? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions as well will be about the Deh Cho Bridge, similar to my colleague. They will be directed to the Minister of Transportation. Has Ruskin ever failed to comply with directions from our engineers to comply with a particular schedule? Thank you.

I figured the Minister was going to answer yes in some capacity, so I’m fine with his answer.

What actually has worked to our advantage, in this particular case, for turning back the Opportunities Fund? I thought it was actually working quite well as a vehicle for lending money at a rate of 10 percent. I’m not going to question the context or phraseology of our good Finance folks, but I’m just wondering where the political discussion or the emphasis on the investment vehicle. At 10 percent return I thought that would be considered a good one. Maybe if the Minister could help me understand that particular thing, because it seemed to be an excellent vehicle for making cash for this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a great pleasure that I table the Compendium of Stories from the J.H. Sissons Grade 4 Class by their teacher Catherine Siegbahn.

Lastly I’ll say I’ll encourage all Members to take the opportunity and such to encourage their students in their communities to try something similar. The kids are quite proud of the opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to use my Member’s statement to talk about the Grade 4 J.H. Sissons class who have been invited here today, and as Members will note, they are in the gallery right now.

I was invited some time ago to be a listener for their Authentic Audience Project as they wrote stories. Mr. Speaker, I’ll use my Member’s statement today to acknowledge each student and as I read their name and the name of their story, of course, I’d like them to rise so Members can see who they are.

Their teacher is Ms. Catherine Siegbahn, followed by the students: Cameron Bond, Fred the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are just a couple of areas that I would like to highlight. It will be no surprise to the Minister.

The budget itself I’ve had a chance to go through. It’s pretty much the same as it usually is. I have no general concerns about that, but what I will use the chance to do is highlight that, first off, I appreciate the help that the Minister’s office provides my office. I am very grateful for it. The Department of Health, in my experience, is probably one of the most challenging departments to run, so I’m glad we have Deputy Minister DeLancey there as the pilot to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I’d like to recognize the J.H. Sissons Grade 4 class led by their teacher Catherine Siegbahn. I want to thank them for attending today’s session. As promised, I will see them later next week and show them where their stories are tabled on the official Hansard forever. Thank you again and thank you for listening attentively.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m sure I must have missed the Minister’s response to my question about hotel tax. I’m just wondering if we can get that on the record what I asked during opening comments. What’s interesting is it’s the only subject I talked about. I’d hate to think that 100 percent of my comments were ignored.

The next question of course is: What have they produced to date? I appreciate the Minister has just pointed out that they have not met, but this Aboriginal strategy must have produced something since its inception.