Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the stand the Minister has made, but I’d still like to know what the cost would be to tear that building down and has there been a full environmental assessment of that building, recognizing that it’s probably full of asbestos and lead paint and who knows what else? To add to that question I’d asked earlier, what class of estimate was this $3.5 million pegged at? Was it a class A, class B, class C, or even a class D? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know this is not an easy decision and it really does impact the community. It’s a very important building, it’s a community building. I know the building extremely well and I realize the importance of it. I was there in Fort Simpson not that long ago and I got to walk through it again and see the day care and the important infrastructure that it provides to the community and you can definitely realize how critical it is to the community. I shouldn’t just say Fort Simpson, I should call it the community at large.

The trouble is, are we giving value to the community? I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have a couple things to say on this matter. First of all, I support this initiative that’s coming forward. When I was in Fort Good Hope last year you could see that the housing need has reached crisis state and the Housing Minister has constantly talked about the need for housing, sensible housing throughout the Northwest Territories. I’ve been to a number of smaller communities throughout my northern career of almost 30 years here and you can see that there is a troubling state. This is one positive solution to work towards helping make that problem I should say...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that was one of the best answers I have heard from this Minister in my three years of the Assembly. He is talking about bridging the gap, addressing forced growth problems, cost of living and including the requests. So I guess, all of that said, everything I needed to hear about what it was we are bridging the gap on. So the bottom line is, will wage parity be addressed in this business plan? I can guarantee you, there aren’t many people who are against this problem. Will he address it? Will he tell this House today that he is going to ensure...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I heard a great response there, we put a high value on the work that they do, we rationalize it and support them, and we are working with them. So I guess my question now to the Minister is, how are we going to rationalize, support and respect the high value of service that they offer when there is a $500,000 plus wage parity gap between what their employees as a collective receive and what they should be paid in fair market value throughout other government agencies? How is the Minister going to address this gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we need long-term security because these organizations benefit all our people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the course of this Assembly, I have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the impending crisis in the frontline agencies brought about by the overwhelming administrative burden and a lack of adequate funding. During our pre-budget consultations last fall, I heard from many NGOs about their inability to offer competitive wages and benefits that are absolutely essential to recruiting and keeping qualified staff. I’ve also heard convincing cases from where many well-established organizations, that the time has come to recognize their long-standing contribution and...

That will be all for now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the GNWT work with Aurora College to deliver a basic interpreter/translator training program for aboriginal languages, as well as specialized training in medical terminology. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s my opinion that buildings are far more than bricks and mortar. They can breathe life into our community and certainly a policy like this will breathe life into the institutions we know as government.

Mr. Speaker, a public art scale of this mass will change the culture and the way we do business and although it looks like a little piece of paper, I think it goes far beyond that. It will define us for generations to come.

From my time being a Member here for the last three years, the Leg is truly an example of doing things right and doing them upfront as...