Robert Hawkins

As I mentioned, the Yukon Territory is able to use this standard called COR throughout their Territory as well as their small communities quite extensively. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister had any engagement with the Yukon Territory to see if it is possible to use some of their phase-in model that they used over there where they had only significantly high contracts the first year and then they kept lowering them down until we could expand the program throughout the system in a fair and reasonable way, recognizing that they’re small contractors, small service providers, as well as large ones...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about a program called Certificate of Recognition, also known as COR. As some of you may know, COR is a health and safety certificate program for the construction industry in Canada. In the Northwest Territories, this program is delivered by the Northern Construction Safety Association in partnership with the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission. The COR program is designed to equip participants with the resources and skills to develop and maintain accredited in-house safety management systems unique to their workplace. To be certified...

Further to my statement, Mr. Speaker, I highlighted the issue of the appeal mechanisms only come into force as of April 1st this year, and I’m just wondering what highlights the Minister can provide us to find out if it is working or if it isn’t working. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I raised the issue of the NWT Housing Corp and the response to the Auditor General’s report, and certainly the follow-up report by the Standing Committee on Government Operations. Mr. Speaker, my first question would be focussed, obviously, to the Minister, which is: in the report it clearly says there will be a revised statement to be released in early 2009 on how to address many of the symptoms and issues raised in the committee’s response and certainly highlighted by the Auditor General. When can we expect that response to this House...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 2008 the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation tabled the Auditor General’s Report on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation’s Public Housing and Homeownership Programs. This report shed light on many shortcomings in the Public Housing Program and made 11 recommendations addressing three major areas of concern: the management of public housing, the management of the Homeownership Program, and the planning and reporting conducted by the NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, my concern today is that these recommendations have not been...

Mr. Speaker, the process of eviction obviously is a painful one for many people who are in rental accommodations. Of course, the Government of the Northwest Territories provides social housing, which is sort of the backstop of where they would go. When you’re evicted, you really have no one to call after that, other than, of course, your MLA or, hopefully, ministerial intervention. But the long and short of it is, the appeals mechanism needs to ensure that there’s a healthy process for people to engage before they end up on the street. Will this issue be further updated to make sure that there...

Some of the issues that were raised in that report, certainly committee’s response, was the question of arrears and how it’s done. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister have any opinion or comment on how the Housing Corporation has been addressing that issue, and where does the issue of arrears and clearing up arrears stand with the Housing Corporation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, first off, would like to thank the Member for Mackenzie Delta recognizing my two constituents. His father, Mike Krutko, a very well-known Northerner, and certainly Mr. Ed Jeske is a very well-known hockey supporter in this community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I may applaud the Minister for a fantastic answer on dealing with this issue. Mr. Speaker, just one last question. I certainly hope, as I view this as a territorial problem not just a Yellowknife problem -- and I stress that -- would the Minister look into the feasibility, and I stress, look into only the feasibility at this time about drawing it into a long-term program where we can ensure that all our schools are barrier-free and certainly accessible not just to our students but to our community? Because, as we all know, schools are schools during the day, but they are also the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I’d like to talk about barrier-free schools and playgrounds. It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that this government stands for inclusive education and has for a long time. The issue being raised today is that some parents recently requested money from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to improve accessibility at one of the Yellowknife schools, because at least one of their students is confined to a wheelchair and they wanted to make sure that the playground was as accessible as possible to them. However, Mr. Speaker, their funding was...