Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, everywhere I go I hear the same story: Freezing of the arsenic in the ground is the best temporary solution, but people are expecting something better at the Giant Mine site. Yes, they know that the best engineering of the day is being implemented, but they don’t want that as the long-term solution. There lies the problem, Mr. Speaker.

Some of the world’s greatest innovators of our time have always found a way by facing down insurmountable challenges with both genius and, certainly, perseverance. The Giant Mine problem, as we know it, has left a costly legacy of arsenic in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s no secret, I recently went with the Minister to the Bakken to do some studying on hydraulic fracturing, and I’m going to table two stickers we received while we were there, and it speaks to the quality and attitude of hydraulic fracturing in North Dakota. The first sticker I’m going to table is Will!ston, Rockin’ in the Bakken; and the second one is Build Baby Build. I encourage anyone to ask me details on the way they do business there. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to send the Premier my most recent press release, and of course, I would be happy to walk over a copy of my Member’s statement. I am talking about the federal government spends $1.9 million every year to maintain this site. I am suggesting that we encourage them to package some money out of that. It wouldn’t be ongoing funding; it would be a balloon payment – think of it as that way – to encourage. If anyone could come up with a solution for the Giant Mine problem, they can come get the reward or balloon payment. Call it what you will. Quite frankly, it costs the...

I know the Premier was listening closely to my Member’s statement, as I know he always does, of course. He hangs on every word. I’m sure he would recognize that not at one time in my Member’s statement or in my press release the week before I talked about stopping what we’re doing today, because the engineering solution today is probably the only solution we have thus far.

But the same innovation that brought Banting to the solution for insulin, and the same spirit and drive of why people fight the good fight against cancer every single day is because they’re looking for that solution and they...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to use the opportunity to welcome our Chinese delegation, our deputy consul as well as his colleagues, so I would like to say to him… [English translation not provided.] Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure has reviewed Bill 13, An Act to Repeal the Curfew Act; and Bill 14, An Act to Repeal the Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers Act, and wishes to report that Bills 13 and 14 are ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure has reviewed Bill 3, Wildlife Act, and wishes to report that Bill 3 as amended and reprinted is also ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr...

When I was at the open house a couple of weeks ago, one of the Yellowknife Dene councillors asked if there was a way to solve this problem, and asked us to make the arsenic inert in a way that it doesn’t cause any problem. The staff said there is no way of dealing with this. Quite frankly, it is because no one is looking at it. Out of 56 recommendations, there is not one that talks about innovation. It’s almost like we need a Donald Trump here in the Northwest Territories, or a Richard Branson, saying how important this is for humanity to talk about let’s find a breakthrough.

That said, there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the scandalous situation we have here about the lost faxes or even mailed health care forms when people are applying for renewal. My situation comes down to this: We don’t know how many applications have been lost, we don’t know where they have gone, we don’t know who has this information, and we don’t know what they’re doing with this information.

So my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is: Is he willing to do a public type of inquiry into this process to find out where this information has gone, how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use today’s Member’s statement to revisit the health care card issue as it continues to be a bit of a frantic issue out there. Some people are defining it as maybe a mini scandal of some sort, and others say maybe an inquiry of some sort, as well, needs to be considered.

The fact that people have been e-mailing, whether they’ve been faxing or even mailing in their applications, they don’t know where the information is going and it really continues to call into question the integrity of the system as well as the safety of that information being sent out there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just briefly, I will be supporting the motion. I think my colleagues have said it quite well, so there’s no need to continue on the process of reminding everyone. I think it’s already been said repeatedly. I don’t think I could say it better.

The only thing I would like to add is, it’s a shame to be known for number one and this is not a category anyone should be proud of about alcohol abuse. The fact is we should be known as the number one crusaders to stop this problem, the number one people to protect our folks. So it’s the wrong category to be known for and it’s...