Robert Hawkins

I appreciate the Minister’s answer. As I’ve highlighted a few times in this House this term and certainly the last term, my concern about red tape and a red-tape bureaucracy, and B.C. has a red-tape Minister. If they bring in a new regulation, they have to take away two. The point being is they don’t want to continue burdening industry as well as the everyday person with more rules and unnecessary regulations.

The Minister had said this is a draft and I’ll accept his statement that it is a draft. My concern is the draft will roll into this is the way it will be before costing out these...

The only ones that seem to have respect for the process are the Members around this room. I’ve listened to my colleagues very cautiously and asked questions about this, and it’s a shame the agreement is out there. Does the Premier think he could maybe address the situation by the upcoming deadline when they’re looking for feedback from the aboriginal organizations that perhaps at that stage with their agreement? I stress that it is a partnership, as he’s well aware. Perhaps with the parties all in agreement they could work together with the plain language. Although technically it’s a bilateral...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to weigh in on the devolution issue that’s been raised by a number of my colleagues here today.

Firstly I’ll say it’s a real shame that it is now posted on the CBC website. I think that’s caused real ripples out there in the community. That being said, some of the aboriginal groups aren’t necessarily pleased. I know I had people looking at it and they’re concerned. People are wondering if it’s the real true document. It’s kind of like negotiating in public here. It’s really the future of the Northwest Territories and I think it’s a real shame that this...

Again, sort of just to narrow it down a little further to help clarify the confusion out there, I’d like to highlight again my concern, because it does seem insulting to many of the parties that are involved here in a very offensive type of way that it is now out there and the public are running around. It’s an open negotiation and it really shouldn’t be.

The reality here is, it’s there and we have to sort of deal with it. The question really comes down to is a plain language document one of the options that the Premier could conceivably be working on when he says there’s things they could look...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to highlight on-line petitions in my Member’s statement.

I am very pleased that the Legislative Assembly will soon be accepting on-line petitions here. It’s a new form of democracy being created right before our eyes, and I intend to promote this option to all the residents of Yellowknife Centre as well as throughout the North to all our northern constituents. I certainly hope Northerners will consider using this site to submit their petitions and make sure their voice is heard in this Assembly.

I was in favour of this direction from the start of our...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to provide a few guiding comments to the overall budget process. First and foremost, the process, I am very pleased we continue this with the fall capital budget. As I’ve indicated for a long time, it’s good to see that it continues this way. Our budget numbers are summed up in groups, therefore we haven’t spec’d out individual numbers and we haven’t made it too easy for those people who are bidding on the maximum of what we estimate our potential budget on a particular item is.

I have had a number of contractors tell me, though, even though...

I will agree with her on the clinical trial part, but who do you think they do the clinical trial part on? On people who have MS, in my view. If you talk to people who have MS out there, and I have some constituents who do have this, they view that as an opportunity for treatment and they would like to certainly be involved in this opportunity, as I’ve tried to describe it. Quite truly it is an opportunity of hope finally coming to a sector that has had very little hope and opportunity.

So the issue continues to be sort of the same point, which is how do we get our patients, our residents who...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement I raised the issue of the liberation treatment that can offer a new hope to MS patients out there. I have written the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding this concern and I would like to call it an opportunity of hope for those people who have MS. My question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is: What is her department doing to look at this treatment? Is there any possibility that the Department of Health and Social Services can get on board and see if we can select a couple of patients to try this treatment to see...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Anything that moves this forward even by an inch is a success, in my view. I want to get people into this treatment. Again, we’ll call it research, if that’s all we want to describe it as, although I know very well that it’s being used as real treatment for a lot of people.

As I said earlier, we have MS patients in my riding who would like to be part of this process. Is the Minister willing to get out there and reach out to the MS community to start finding out if there are people who would be willing to join the research, who would want to be involved in the...

Mr. Speaker, the issue before us here is the Minister is saying not enough science out there that says one way or the other. Saskatchewan believes that there is enough science out there to give this a try. If I have it correct, I believe Newfoundland is seriously looking at this and if you ask anybody who has received the treatment for liberation to help them, certainly they think the science exists, because they are travelling all over the world to get these types of things.

Not to be cynical, but may I remind the Minister, and certainly this House, that for years scientists said cigarettes...