Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use the opportunity here to return to a subject I’ve raised in this House before and it’s the health care card issue.

In the past I’ve raised with the Health Minister, more accurately the former Health Minister, about the need to move towards photo ID cards. As many of us will remember, and certainly want to forget, the last health care card renewal was no thrill with any standard we should be looking back to as a benchmark. So we should use this opportunity to be planning forward with better health care cards.

The recent issue of cards, I believe, are good...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I referred to health care cards that are from Ontario as well as British Columbia. I have two samples. I have one sample here from Ontario – it’s a two-page document in colour – and I have a second sample here on a document from British Columbia. All people will be able to note the details that I discussed here and certainly the aspects the Minister of Health has agreed to investigate.

Mr. Chairman, is the Minister really clear that a value on branding has not been decided nor a process has not been decided thus far? I have been led to believe that that has already been considered. So when you say these are things we still have to work out, you would think that the plan would have come to our committee and our attention just a little clearer before you ask.

Basically you are asking us to trust you. Then when you go on and you can do whatever you want, and by the time it gets back to us, that is long down the river and it’s too late to care about it.

Is the Minister very clear...

Thank you. As far as branding goes, who is paying for the implementation or how are they going to be branded? That is one of the problems that are being discussed here. I think, frankly, it’s the elephant in the room. How are they going to be branded? Are we talking about 50 percent of the screen and it stays on the brand name 20 minutes? Are we just talking about a small piece on the side like we see on a BlackBerry, et cetera, just small, little wording? What are we really talking about when we talk about branding in reflection to size and the impression it may have?

I mean, let’s be...

Mr. Chairman, we are getting a little closer than before. I guess that’s progress.

So, who owns the iPad? Who controls the content of the iPad? Who maintains them and are they disposable? In other words, once we give them, we don’t see them back? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This problem is quite simple to me. I boil it down to this little piece. The question is to iPad or not to iPad. Whether it is noble to suffer without an iPad or to slings and arrows without rages fortunate against those who cannot afford it – that darned iPad – or to take arms against those trying to offer those iPads, and in the end, as we oppose them as we go to sleep, there will be no iPads for any children or any family.

It’s quite simple. The challenge before us is do we support the iPads to get in the hands of the young people and the parents and provide the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Population is in decline. The cost of living is up. The Minister says we’ve hired 217 summer students. I bet there are at least 800 in total that have been looking for work, so we’re lucky to even get 25 percent of the students hired. The bottom line is I want to know how many job positions are open and how we’re getting them filled. This government has repeatedly said they had 571 jobs they were actively looking for a few months ago. We’ve got, at best, in the range of 800 students, probably almost 600 looking for job. When you go to the website, there are only 102 job...

Well, I fail to fully understand why we go to a specialized marketing company and spend $795 to self-nominate, and when I actually called them they told me they couldn’t tell me who competes for these awards because that’s proprietary information. Ultimately, that’s what they said, and they can’t tell me about how it’s evaluated at the end of the day. It almost seems like it’s self-gratification designed.

By the way, let me be the first to announce, I’m creating a Yellowknife Centre MLA award. I won’t tell you who can apply, and it will be in 2014. It’s just as simple as that. Obviously, that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, in essence… I mean, I’m happy to provide the name and I’ll do that, like I said, once I’m done here in this process. But, frankly, once we pass it, what’s the point of giving the name to the Minister if we can’t pursue it? I guess that’s what I’m getting at, is should we pause on a certain section without identifying anybody in particular? I’m just trying to get a sense, because I think I just stated that once its forgiven it’s forgiven, there’s nothing to pursue at that point. So I’m just sort of lost on the process here, and I think that it’s a fair question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to once again recognize Hannah Allan. She’s a Page here from Yellowknife Centre. She’s just over there on the side. I recognized her last week, but I believe she was on duty somewhere else. I’d like her to take a moment so she can stand up and be recognized and thank her for her duties here. Also, I may remind her, many Pages have become MLAs and even Clerks in this Assembly, so you never know where you can end up. Thank you.