Robert Hawkins

I won’t call a point of order on the Minister’s opinion of himself, but I will leave it at that.

The arm’s length of this report must be pretty short because they’re using such similar language as it is in the report tabled by you, delivered by the Auditor General, Mr. Speaker. The Minister’s statement on February 25th stands on the record of saying why is this information very, very similar in your statement as the department’s response. It says the department was trying to get ahead of this by saying, here are the answers and when it shows up a week later just pretend, oh, we’re tweaking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many Members know, I’m pretty familiar with many of the rules around the House and I can easily say that many of the rules are black and white. But there is area that I often refer to as grey areas and, of course, they’re not tied to a specific rule or a breach, but sometimes more of an error of opinion or insight. Sometimes we can refer to them as someone has gingerly strolled away from the spirit and the intent of consensus government.

I’m having trouble personally putting a specific finger around what rule may have been breached, but I can tell you once I’ve...

The last question I’d like to ask, maybe in this particular area: Is this contiguous across Canada or do we find this happens in some regions versus others, and perhaps if they know off the top of their head or they’re familiar with any region, be it province or other territory, that requires a similar type of process where medical exams are required after a certain age. Again, this is an issue, actually, that had arisen during our discussion of this bill, inquired by some of the seniors and the public, although some who were there, I think, understood or appreciated the answer, but I would...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will read them into the official record at this time. Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, includes amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act to increase options and flexibility regarding drivers’ licences and sanctions, reinstatement conditions, duration of suspension and cancellation to support the NWT High Risk Drivers Program, to clarify the registrar’s authority and responsibilities of medical professionals respecting driver medical examinations and requirements, and to address offence provisions related to driving in school zones and construction zones...

Thank you. Well, the Minister can keep repeating I have an opinion and that’s fine. I mean, the public sees it for what it is.

My next question for the Minister is: Who writes his Minister’s statements when they specifically target areas to talk about, which is child and family services matters? In other words, who would have written that? If he doesn’t want to name the name, name the section or the position. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to return to the Minister of Health’s answers here and I wanted to continue to ask questions. So let’s break down some of the departmental response in the Auditor General’s report. For the record, we all know in this building that the policies and procedures manual has been worked on for at least eight years. So, in other words, it makes it clear and relevant that everyone knows what’s going on, but I’ll save the questions of why didn’t they act sooner for the appropriate committee that will be reviewing the report line by line, and I’m speaking broadly, not...

The answers provided by the departments are very, I don’t know how to describe it, are exceptionally similar to the answers provided in the Auditor General’s report. So I would say this: Why are they identical? Only the Minister can answer this and if he wants to continue to dodge and try to play games about, oh well, it’s this or it’s this, and now the Member hasn’t read the report, he can play games, but the public can see this. The fact is there’s zero accountability on this and they’re getting ahead of the Auditor General, which breaks the spirit and the intent of consensus government and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Health Minister will tell you he does not have early access to the Auditor General’s report. Of course, he’ll probably tell you it’s all arm’s length, and of course, he doesn’t know anything about it until it’s tabled by yourself, Mr. Speaker. This is a paradox that now sits before this House.

Can the Minister of Health explain why the wording in the Minister’s statement given on February 25th of this year mimics much of the wording in the report tabled by yourself, Mr. Speaker, yesterday, and the report I’m referring to is the Auditor General’s report. Is this a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. After that detailed and thorough review of the department, I will now move a motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If anyone doesn’t know, apparently we use PeopleSoft, because I think it has been said at least seven times if not more. Maybe we should have the PeopleSoft program sitting in one of those seats answering all these questions because if we only have information from October and we don’t get new information until April, that has to be at least six months. This is such an important issue.

What is the Minister going to do to ensure Northerners have current information before them so they can apply for these jobs? Because I can tell you, up and down this Valley, all four...