Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize someone who has already been recognized, but in doing so, I may have to let out a personal secret, or whatever.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don’t think it’s as clear as the Minister says. I agree with the purpose of this legislation in including and widening the group of people who will be subject to the protection of privacy requirements, because we know that governments gather a lot of information; and their agents, and their contractors, casual employees and students that government hires and government agents hire, if they come across personal information that’s sensitive, I think it’s only right that we require them to not reveal that. They should be advised of that. That makes sense to me.

I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple of questions to put on record of some of the concerns and questions of clarifications that came up during our committee process. One is, I would like to ask the Minister and his staff if they could give one example or situation that symbolizes the need for having this legislation. Why was there a need to include volunteers and students in the definition of employee? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A short final supplementary. My riding of Range Lake was a great beneficiary of George Jones' concert. We had lots of people from all of the communities at Tim Hortons. Even without any prodding, I have had people from Tuktoyaktuk and Paulatuk telling me, "We don’t want any trailers in my home town." They have already heard about this. There is nothing confidential about the 1,400 Novel trailers. If the Minister is not going to give us this information, I want to know when he is prepared to ask the Joe Punches of Trout Lake and all the people in Tuktoyaktuk and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that this proposal was received without a lot of…It was not very well received, let me just say. There were just lots of questions that the Minister has not been able to answer at the committee level.

Instead of providing the information that Members need to make good sound judgment about such a mega project, he has taken the initiative to invite anybody who wants to come and see this trailer in Calgary. I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, there are some really nice trailers in my riding. I know what a trailer looks like. I don’t need to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister is still floating from the compliment that he received earlier and he’s not getting to the specifics of what I am trying to get at. Could I ask the Minister to enquire into this proposal that is being put forward by the people in the community who are in the know about dealing with people with substance problems? They are really looking at setting up a transition home or home for men who are trying to live a sober life. Living with sobriety requires a home that is conducive to that, and there is a proposal…(inaudible)…gives its best...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people in our communities and in our cities always express their frustration at what seems to be a lack of action on the part of the government to address this drug problem and crime problem that seems to be prevalent in our communities. They don’t understand why the Minister is not talking about building a treatment centre and providing support to those who need to get some help. There are some real long-term residents, just regular citizens, who are struggling with this very serious crack and drug problem. Whenever I ask that question, the Minister always...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I share the views of other Members in congratulating the RCMP for some of the major arrests that went down. The thing is that once the smoke from this clears, we still have to address the needs of those who are addicted to cocaine and drugs and that is an ongoing issue that we have to pay attention to. So my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The people who are involved in dealing with those with drug addiction speak about the need for a spectrum of services that have to be available to those who need them. The spectrum speaks to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, education of our children is right up there with the health of our citizens in terms of its importance in determining quality of life, and I believe that the constituents of Range Lake have every right to expect the very best out of this government. This is the best gift that life in the North has given to me, and I take my job of improving on this tradition very seriously, and I have to tell you that this Minister and this government is not doing a very good job in this regard.

Mr. Speaker, reducing the PTR and reducing special needs funding is not...