Robert Hawkins

Are all four employees accepting a transfer? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be absolutely crystal clear. My problem isn’t with the employees. My problem isn’t with the people who use the thing. I think they need the help and I think they deserve respect and dignity by giving them help. My issue comes down to the management style of the way that that place is running. So how can this Minister guarantee that this place will be running better and not more of the same? Thank you.

Thank you. I was listening to the Minister’s answer very attentively and what I hear is an organization bid for the proposal. It sounds like they underbid it, didn’t know what they were bidding on, and now they want more money to run it in a new fashion. The question was not answered in any way specific to the Minister’s quote, which was he said there was contribution agreement problems, year-end report problems and proposal problems.

What are those problems? Are we holding money back because they have not fulfilled their obligations? Let’s be clear on the record. What obligations have they not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a way never before, the NWT took Ottawa by storm, led by our Premier, Bob McLeod. Mr. McLeod’s vision and leadership brought together many politicians, Aboriginal leaders, and certainly business leaders in a way never before seen, united in a front to support the North. Our campaign without his leadership wouldn’t have gone as far as it did. It was a great success. Our campaign was to raise northern issues, and it all came down to the leadership of Bob McLeod. He deserves our thanks for that, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

In a way never before, to his credit, he brought the...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has spoken about how the management has changed the contract there by changing services or even offering services. Maybe you could elaborate what they are doing outside of the original proposal that we have not agreed to. I am trying to understand what is happening there and I think the public deserves that. Thank you.

Let’s summarize it this way: If we have deviant behaviour going on at the day shelter, wouldn’t you expect the management to provide a safe and controlled environment that allows people to be there in a warm place in winter that doesn’t have substance abuse of any kind or even violence? Wouldn’t that be sort of a management issue, not necessarily a client-driven issue?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In reply to my last question, I heard the Minister of Health and Social Services, in some manner or form it sounded like he blamed the people who attend the day shelter for the, I’ll say, tone and atmosphere.

Maybe the Minister can elaborate further as to the running of the day shelter. Is it blamed on the people who run it there or the people who manage it? Let’s get this on the record and get some clarity. Thank you.

It’s critical to point out that the concerns I am raising are important, but they’re not only mine; they’re issues raised to me by the public and many people. Let’s be very, very clear. Is the Minister going to go out to an RFP to ensure that the downtown day shelter gets a fresh start or some new leadership that is qualified to run that shelter rather than making it up in a hodgepodge way? Because the people who are really hurting are those who need it, and they need the help. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I spoke about my concerns about the downtown day shelter and I directed my questions to the Minister of Health. Certainly, the issue to me is I’ve always been a big supporter of the downtown day shelter concept. That hasn’t changed even today. I still am a believer.

The RFP process and fresh start is really what I’m after. Yesterday the Minister is quoted, in short, they have a few issues, and they’re referring to the contractor, which are the contribution agreement, year-end report and proposal. So we need to get these things cleared up.

Is the downtown day...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table three documents. I will table them as a compendium package here. What I will do is I will name what they are. They are three individual stories that are printed off from the Internet. One is called the New Orderly Daytime Home Shelter Looks a Lot Different this Year. The second one is Part I, The City and the County Takes on Madison Day Shelter, and third, Drop-in Homelessness Linked to New Shelter. They are very interesting stories that I think are good for the public to see.