Bob Bromley

Here when we are at the table on such a high-profile agreement that can obviously influence us and our costs, as Mr. Ramsay mentioned yesterday in the House, this is a real privilege and opportunity and, I would say, a real responsibility. So will the Premier get busy and write Ottawa, object to this, let the Prime Minister know, and our negotiators, that we would object to this because it will raise the price of drugs for our people?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess quickly, would this be where specialized courts would be housed? I guess, just by way of working up gradually and changing the subject, the compensation for judges is an exercise that, I think, we’ve been going through at arm’s length and whatnot. Have some decisions been made? Has that been reported? Is that all done and being implemented and are the results public? Is that something we can hear about? Thank you.

Thank you for that explanation. My last question is on the housing for staff. I know it’s been noted that we’ve knocked out that $250,000 there. What is the current strategy for providing housing for staff? Recognizing I know the Minister is familiar with the situation and that may have been explained earlier. Maybe I can just get it from Hansard if I was out of the House or somehow missed it. No further questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have to know that the environmental review of the MGP did not follow the process that we laid down on the MVRMA. It was cooked up completely separate from the processes that we established. Had we followed those processes, I think things would have happened a lot more effectively.

Let’s consider some concrete examples of the environmental protection we will consider essential once we take on resource management. Yesterday over 150 citizens turned out to express their revulsion at the regressive agenda of the federal government on the social environmental front. I had...

From that I conclude that obviously there is a high potential for hiring people with more than one language, if that was the interest of the department. I see that as an opportunity and I’m sure the Minister is aware of that.

My last question is just in follow up to my colleague Mr. Dolynny. What is our benchmark in terms of waiting period? Is there a number of months? Do we aim for three months or two months or four months? It sounds like there might be a national standard for that. Some details there would be good.

I hope maybe the Minister would be willing to update committee on this project. It sounds like an interesting one. Maybe after the fall when the data starts rolling in.

My last question is with regard to the debt repayment. We have a long-term debt of $52.3 million to CMHC. I’m just wondering for my own background here what the source of that debt is. I know this is something we’ve been paying on a long time and we will be paying for it for awhile. Are we simply paying on it or are we also adding to the debt from time to time? Is it a balance that we’re paying off as fast as we can but at the...

I think there is another one that is early intervention for nonviolent and the divorce proceedings towards the best options for the children. I think those things are really great programs. I am very happy to see them going forward. I think committee remains very interested in any results as those accumulate on all of those. I’ll leave it at that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Speaker, I enjoy receiving more detail if the time permitted on that, but quick versus slow, easy versus thorough… In his statement the Premier said that devolution is about having more accessible, accountable and responsive government making important decisions around land and resource management will bring those decisions closer to the people most affected by those decisions. Would the first one, a delegated authority imposing the existing legislation that we have complained about vociferously for the last several decades, be consistent with his stated goal of bringing decisions and...

There is a word to explore someday. Just with respect to my colleagues bringing up the issue of translation and whatnot, I know that in the past, court workers have played an important role there when they happen to have that talent. Is there an attempt to hire court workers that have more than one language to help deal with that issue, which I believe is a real one I’m sure the Minister would agree.