Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I'll have to compliment the Premier. He did give us a little more there, which was work so that services are there. That's a little smidge of a step of a real answer, Mr. Speaker. So will the Premier ensure that under all possibilities, under any reasonable way, we will make sure that this facility does not have to shut their doors for women? Will he guarantee that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Premier's answer about NGOs will be part of the mix, but the fact is this organization is on life support right now. Their funding is dwindling; they're threatened with the fact, the reality, Mr. Speaker, that the doors will be shut pretty quick. So would the Premier start this session off, this Assembly off, by answering the question directly, which is will he investigate the funding at the Alison McAteer House to make sure that they can keep their doors open for women? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin today, it is Friday, which is Red Friday, and I am wearing

red to show my support to the troops and their families and their commitment to us, as well.

Mr. Speaker, NGOs are a vital component to the fabric of the NWT. They offer and deliver programs, important programs and services that the government can’t do and sometimes doesn’t even want to do. In my opinion, these organizations are, in essence, picking up where government fails to act. In some cases, as well, these NGOs continue to get the short end of the stick when it comes to funding, lack of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last government, devolution seemed to be the end all and be all of a focus that they have. I certainly think that we have many more issues before this Assembly to make devolution the only issue we talk about. I’d like to make sure we talk about housing and education and a whole lot of other things. But, Mr. Speaker, if a devolution deal is before us, there’s not a single Member on this side of the House who wants it to be at any cost. As we all know, it’s always about the numbers; and money certainly is a big issue. So my question to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we seem to avoid the…The question keeps getting asked and the answer keeps getting avoided. The fact is, the YWCA's Alison McAteer House -- I'll say it clearly -- has a real possibility of being shut down and it's not because the funding agreement is going to be pulled, the fact is the funding agreement is not set up in such a way to fund them properly. So what is this government going to do as of January to pick up the services offered by this closed women's shelter if something is doesn't immediately? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. Ed Jeske, Rosann Parpyka and Vivian Squires in the gallery, as well as I did notice coming in: Phila Phyten, Don Cooper, deputy minister of Justice, Justice Vertes and Brad Enge, all constituents of mine. I would like to say welcome to everyone. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d first like to say thank you to Yellowknife Centre. It’s a privilege and an honour to return to the riding as their representative. It was an honour enough to be elected once, but twice is quite a privilege, Mr. Speaker, as you know yourself. They have given me a mandate and I appreciate all the support given to me. The volunteers out there, it was quite inspiring to see how many we had come forward. I want to thank them especially because they gave up, as Mr. Bromley had pointed out, they gave up personal time, family time, sometimes even mealtime...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer because I see the Minister recognizes how important this is. Mr. Speaker, he says case by case. The one thing I think will help everyone out there who are in the NGOs would be, for example, if the Department of Finance set out rules and guidelines and anyone could work with the individual department. So would the Minister of Finance take upon the work to design some type of framework that an NGO can go to, maybe a website, click download it and help the application process? Therefore, when it goes to the specific department, we’ve already...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 14th Assembly there was a report that recommended multi-year funding and the importance that it would bring to NGO organizations to create stability and a sense of continuity for their funding source. Mr. Speaker, in the 15th Assembly I was able to work with the NWT Seniors’ Society to help get them a multi-year funding agreement, and special recognition goes to then-Minister Miltenberger of the Department of Health. Mr. Speaker, that was a milestone, I’d say, but one that, I think, passed without any thunder and excitement, because it was a big...