Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many people in this Assembly know, water management is a municipal issue but water quality, I believe, falls under a public health point of view. My questions will be directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services from a public health point of view.

With recent awareness regarding the concerns of fluoridation treatment in water, there have been a lot of pros and cons on this particular issue. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what public health is doing to review the quantity of fluoridation in the water that is being provided to our...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The area I’d like to seek some further information on early childhood development in a different vein as raised by a previous colleague. Mr. Chairman, I’d like to find out how many institutions are funded under this year’s program of $7.3 million and does the Minister have a list that he could provide me with a breakout of that funding formula. As well, on a last note, by community and by how many students that attend those particular facilites or, I should put in brackets, we anticipate to attend. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak to a number of concerns related to the perspective of the Liquor Board where the Liquor Act and the regulations are silent.

The NWT’s Liquor Board is made up of nine members appointed by the Minister. Members are selected on a regional basis to ensure that there is fair representation. Looking at this closely, I notice that there is a clear gap in board representation in the context of fair representation. Quite simply, there is no representative from the hospitality industry formally included. The only way someone from the hospitality industry can be...

I did hear the Minister say he supports the campus but my question was about an independent campus. As the Minister knows, as well as countless people know, I feel very strongly and deeply that Yellowknife is in a position and certainly ready for an independent campus and should be working towards that goal. Therefore, I ask the Minister if he supports an independent campus Aurora College in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. As it’s been my understanding, they’ve been advocating some time about expanding the college programming here in Yellowknife and they’ve found that, you know, they haven’t found that -- if I may say it gently and, of course, correctly -- this report in my perspective seems to be not quite there from the department. I’m just trying to get a sense of whether the department is behind this initiative.

Furthermore, to emphasize the urgency of this particular issue, the Minister is well aware that the lease is coming to termination within two years. If I understand it...

What work is being planned to go forward for capital expenditures in this budget year that we see before us? What’s the planning from the departmental point of view? As I know that an independent campus is on the wish list of Aurora College, where does the deputy minister see their efforts panning out with some real developments?

Mr. Chairman, I wouldn’t want to impress on the Minister that we should become the sole funding source of every one of those organizations. When you wrap it up that way, you get day homes and everything, which probably isn’t quite reasonable and which is way beyond our means. My focus, really, is ensuring that early childhood development programs are established from a contextual circumstance of not somebody who just turns the light on on their doorstep and all of a sudden they call it a learning centre. But, I mean, we have some real organized, dedicated people and committees and core groups...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a concern of many of my constituents, especially in the sense that Calgary has recently dealt with this particular issue and I think has drawn it back into the public spotlight. Will the Minister ensure that that information is on the Health and Social Services website as soon as possible so that way the average, everyday citizen has this accessible rather than it buried down into some fine line somewhere in the department where it becomes counterproductive? Thank you.

Recognizing the clock, I’ll just wrap up the next subject quite quickly in a sort of a brief overview. Under inclusive schooling, can I request that the Minister give me a breakdown on how dollars are spent per school per community and how the expenditure is based, whether it’s on base funding then per capita, to get an understanding on the type of programming and how the dollars are attributed to that? Perhaps I’ll just leave that as my last particular question at this time.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the House specifically what does the chief medical health officer advise the public by way of details to levels of fluoridation as well as the context of the pros and cons and, therefore, we have an informed public, I believe, both in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife? Thank you.