Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In listening to some of the comments provided by the deputy minister of health, she mentioned that there was a zero-based review on Stanton. Could she elaborate a little further and even if it is for my benefit if I didn’t hear her give the answer? My question is specific. What year was the zero-based budget review done? Is there a copy of it that can be provided to Members? If so, can I have an electronic copy? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that didn’t actually answer the question, although it sure sounded close, as in a good try. But what the question really comes down to is does MACA share the specific formula used in the distribution of O and M funding? Do they share that with the municipalities to ensure that they know exactly how the proportion is spread out throughout the Territory to ensure it’s spread fairly and equitably? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to ask questions to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and it’s regarding operations and maintenance funding.

Mr. Speaker, I, like several of my colleagues, have had the benefit of serving on a council for at least one term and understand how important MACA is to the communities and certainly the funding of their operations. Undoubtedly, I know other Members realize that too. One of the problems we’ve always had, I remember from serving on council, is understanding the formula and having an appreciation for the formula that’s distributed to...

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of Education be willing to commit to see if he could bring those partners to the table with Aurora College to discuss about putting forward a joint proposal to P3 Canada to take advantage of those opportunities? I won’t name the particular parties here in the House, for obvious reasons. They may not have publicly committed their interest at this stage so I don’t want to put them on the spot. Would the Minister be willing to commit to bringing these parties to the table in short order so a proposal could be put forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the further programming opportunities before Aurora College and one of the problems put forward is the lease is expiring in about two years. The issue is about not just the lease, but its present location, I don’t believe it suits its need for future growth. My question would be to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. What is the Minister’s plan to help support the college to move forward towards an independent campus that I believe Aurora College needs to have in the Yellowknife Campus location? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of MACA is correct about the probable placement of this regulation, but I believe that this could be a regulation that we can start working on today and we wouldn’t have to wait and hope that the 17th Assembly would make this particular decision.

As we all know, government likes to take its time and I often phrase, we move at the speed of government, which means it probably won’t happen. My fear is the momentum would be lost and the reality is we will allow people to continue to be put at risk. Mr. Speaker, what would stop the Minister today to review and see if a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday Canada’s most trusted contractor was here in Yellowknife speaking at a construction conference. His name, I’m sure no stranger to most, is Mike Holmes. He raised many topics of interest in his talk, but one area that was of significant interest to me, which I’ve raised in this very House, is consumer protection for new homeowners.

New homeowners, Mr. Speaker, need consumer protection and it is a growing concern in my constituency, across the North and even in Canada. To be direct, a new home buyer is left to the goodwill of the person they are buying their new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for taking the issues as serious as I do and being willing to address it by looking at it and see if there is something we can do.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of homes fail even after a good inspection. That is ultimately the concern. Mr. Speaker, if the NWT had a policy to ensure that that would be the case, does the Minister see a need for this to become a government policy for government housing? What type of inspection do we have from a MACA point of view on this type of industry that would any of our new houses built through Housing Program, we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like Member Menicoche, we certainly heard and learned a lot of interesting information from Mike Holmes when he discussed it. I was really glad that Mike Holmes shares my concerns about the lack of consumer protection for residents. The funny thing is, when we told my son the other day he was coming to town, he asked, “Is he coming to fix my house?” Mike Holmes brought to light a lot of important issues.

Again, to hearken back to my Member’s statement, the consumer protection issue is a very significant one. He highlighted in Ontario it is important for new home...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to provide a few general comments to the opening address. First and foremost I will say that I am pleased, as a number of my constituents are certainly pleased, that there are no new taxes in this proposed budget. People are finding it difficult through the cost of living that we’re working through in Yellowknife. I can only imagine that is amplified in the communities, undoubtedly. That’s certainly well-taken news, if I may define it that way.

People are concerned about taxes the government may be flirting with. The expression is mixed, of course. A hotel...