Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From what I’ve been hearing on the ground, is an actual royalty rate has been negotiated and signed off between the territorial government and the IRC. I have yet to hear what that final number is and I think the public deserves to know. Also, why isn’t the government negotiating a zero royalty considering two things: first of all, this road is, in essence, at the request of people in that region, which I think is a reasonable request per se, but by the same token will this philosophy apply to every single new highway established here? Are we setting a dangerous...

I think that report hedged around a $300 million figure. Is that the actual cost that we will be working from on a construction basis, and is that the figure that the public can be referring to the Inuvik-Tuk highway as the actual cost?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use the occasion today to talk about the Inuvik-Tuk highway. As you know very well, over the years you’ve heard me always say that I’ve been a supporter of the highway, and that support for the principle of the highway has not changed at all. I believe in some vision, in a manner of speaking, that it is nation building in its own way.

It is a new highway and may I remind this House, certainly the Transportation Minister and, of course, our Premier – the one that led the great vision I talked about last week in Ottawa – a new highway is supposed to be a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Sorry. For some reason I couldn’t hear that. It must be the ventilation or whatnot. But maybe if the Minister could repeat his answer on that. Are all four transferring to Hay River or what’s happening to the four bodies? 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.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate your guidance on that issue. The ultimate problem here is we have well-known deviant behaviour happening there. The Minister has even highlighted it in our discussions. Is the management responsible to provide a safe environment that is free of violence and substance abuse? Thank you.

To be clear, what role does the management play in the operation and running of a day shelter, if the Minister is blaming the problems on the clientele?