Robert Hawkins

The number of layoffs concerns myself, as well as a number of people in this House. Furthermore, it certainly has hit the radar of the union out there, with approximately 135 potential layoffs coming out there. I want to seek some clarity as we go forward in this process as to what’s happening, so I’ll have some questions directed to the Premier.

The Premier has announced 135 layoffs. As I understand it, some people have left, due to separation, in the context that they’ve taken other jobs. There’s been some further paring down as other people have taken other opportunities. I want to know...

Mr. Speaker, I’m not going to say that the Minister is completely wrong, but I just don’t believe him.

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that a PUB type of system will help protect and stabilize prices. Five out of our ten provinces in Canada can’t be completely wrong by finding an approach to balance this out. It would still allow that industry to raise prices, yet it would put the onus on them to bring a mild amount of justification.

So, Mr. Speaker, with all of that said, would the Minister of Finance reconsider his position in the context of providing a stable, protected environment for our consumers...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin I would like to make special mention of Red Friday, where people wear red to honour the troops.

Mr. Speaker, today’s Member’s statement is to talk about a couple of community grassroots events that will be happening here in Yellowknife. The first one is the Gumboot Rally. It will be happening tomorrow, Saturday, May 24 at 10 a.m. at the Yellowknife Education Board parking lot. It will be the scene of fun, games and a lot of laughs at the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, where they are holding their 16th Annual Gumboot Rally.

The rally is the...

I was going to leave it at that, but the Minister couldn’t help but tease me with a new parking-management system that’s coming forward. So maybe we should get some enlightenment as to that. What does the Minister mean by that? Does he mean maybe the pencil, paper and clipboard technology I was suggesting, or is he going to spend another $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 on a potential machine that we have no guarantee will work out there?

Mr. Speaker, my question today will be to the Minister of Transportation, and it refers back to my Member’s statement regarding the airport issue and parking.

It may sound like a silly issue to raise, but this has been a problem over a long time. The fact is that we’re losing probably hundreds of thousands of dollars out there because no one’s charging for any parking whatsoever. That’s the fact. On the one hand, we have budget cuts because we can’t seem to raise enough money. We have to find ways. Yet on the other hand, we’re wasting or foregoing potential revenue that could be going somewhere...

Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about a subject I’ve raised before in this House, and it’s my concern about Yellowknife Airport parking.

I’ve highlighted the concern that Transportation continues to invest a lot of money in the installation and the repair of the airport parking-ticket machine, and yet the problems continue not to be solved. I wonder how much money will continue to be spent out there on a product, a technology, that just can’t serve people. Mr. Speaker, it’s a waste of money.

In my view, things have gone far off the rails and way out of hand. Anybody who has recently travelled...

Mr. Speaker, my suggestion is maybe getting security out there to do a check maybe two, three times a day and maybe at the end of the day, because if you didn’t pay or get on the list, you don’t need to be out there.

Would the Minister take that into consideration? And can he give me some type of time frame as to when he thinks he can look into this and maybe report back to the House on any potential results?

Mr. Speaker, as I’ve highlighted, we have a really simple situation here. First of all, we have a money problem and a machine that could be making us a lot of money every year. We have a revenue problem; we’ve heard the Finance Minister speak to it many times. Why do you think we’re in the situation we are? It’s time to go back to start doing business properly and efficiently. I think if the Minister listens very carefully, we could probably solve this problem without trying to embarrass the government by getting on and doing business right.

Mr. Speaker, I won’t be long, but I do want to emphasize a particular point. A lot of homes were broken up and challenged by this policy of the government. But the fact that they actually decided to make payment as compensation to recognize the mistake demonstrates the courage we need to have to take the next step to do the right thing, which is to formalize that through an apology. With that note, I hope our Premier will deliver that message. That one little step further may mean not just a little but a lot to a lot of people who have suffered through this.

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Transportation knows, runways are an extremely vital piece of infrastructure to any area, region or territory.

I'd like to know what the Minister is doing to pursue funding for this potential project. And if I may underscore, I think we just received a promissory note of $245.8 million. I'd like to hear what he’s doing to make sure the Yellowknife Airport runway extension is being considered in that potential pot of money.