Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to quickly rise today and make note regarding yesterday’s debate. When you interjected yesterday, I should have sat down and not commented further, a rule I know, and know well.

I wanted to take this chance because I’d reflected upon it yesterday afternoon, approached you last night to talk you about my error and I wanted to make note on the official record. I want to thank you for your guidance and your ear last night on this particular issue and I appreciate your leadership in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m trying to get some details on a particular problem that’s highlighted at a number of schools. I’ve been an MLA for nine years and I hear this repeatedly as a significant problem, not just from parents but other MLAs and other ridings and regions. That particular problem is social passing. I wonder what the department is doing to stop social passing and making it prevalent within our school systems out there. Kids need a fair shot, obviously, but if they’re being passed under the guise of social passing, then they’re not really being set up properly with all the...

That’s the kind of answer I’m looking for. Thank you.

I thank you to the staff for somehow miraculously getting this thing working. The fact is, the money is taken out of my budget, by way of example, and so it’s aggregated out through the normal process but it shows up here as income. I’m not going to argue semantics here, but the fact its income should show up somewhere other than on one particular page such as 7-26. It should show up as a revenue line within the department’s revenue and it doesn’t show up there. I did look for it. Unless, of course, I missed it. But I see great money rolled in under electrical permits, boiler, gas, but I’m not...

I would find it odd. In this particular case I’m not an accountant and I don’t try to represent one, but I would say that your full-cost accounting it makes sense to recognize that cost. That said, we get budgeted and that gets taken out of our budget so it’s got to show up somewhere on our revenue side of stream. So why wouldn’t we show that somewhere, because it looks like it’s been taken out but it mysteriously just vanishes. From an accounting point of view, it almost seems like there’s no close to the file.

I was also really referring to not just folks in some type of technical training program, but I was talking about the ages of high school. You know, your ages between Grades 9, 10, 11, 12. This could probably fit into some type of programming. Obviously, a fair bit of investigation would need to be done, but I’m thinking along the programming of career and life management that we offer our kids that they are all expected to take. This would be a good social value as well as a social skill to add to their toolbox of learning and sort of a broader community benefit.

That said, as I mentioned, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got one written question today.

Would the Minister of Transportation please provide details for all negotiated, sole-source or similar types of contracts which are being arranged or have been entered into since he became Minister of Transportation? Please include specific details such as prices, location, scope of work and successful contractors for the past three years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll just be really quick. I want to thank the Members who are voting in favour of it. I want to thank those just a little bit less who will be abstaining, and certainly those – darn it – I wish we could have persuaded those who are voting against it. But in all seriousness, this is a very important subject and I want to say that I do recognize and respect those that feel strongly that they have to vote against it. Of course, in this business you can’t hold those as grudges. You have to realize that’s how they feel and you have to respect it. I recognize and respect...

Mr. Speaker, that is certainly good news by all accounts. When can we expect some type of public dialogue on this change of thinking? I don’t believe that tanning is a good thing, but many people will want some type of public discussion on this, at least information on the issues and changes coming forward. Quite simply put, is there a public component to the shifts in policy thinking? How does the public get more information? Thank you.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a significant issue with a number of Members here and I’m glad we’re starting to have this type of discussion. I would like to now move a committee motion on page 10-17 and I will read it as follows: