Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to the Minister of Health and Social Services’ answers regarding that tender problem I talked about, she kept talking about the urgency to make sure this goes to the Beau-Del communities and I certainly wouldn’t want to see any significant delay. But, Mr. Speaker, last year we had a delay of a particular project in the community of Inuvik because, of course, we had a group, they wanted to come forward and express not being able to fully participate and yet we have a similar circumstance where we have a group, a business, that would like to fairly compete in an...

Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to this grandmother, the mother of this person who was evicted, one of the first things I wanted to know was where is the paperwork to have you evicted. Where is the paperwork that supports this business to show up at your door, throw you out on the street and say, but we have a piece of paper that says you have to leave now, and there was none. There wasn’t a single piece of paper to justify that. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of the Housing Corporation not see that as a significant issue to take action on or is he just going to wait and let the local Yellowknife...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, a single mother had been evicted from a property in one of the residences in Yellowknife Centre. They were evicted by the landlord. I guess it was under the support of the local Yellowknife Housing Authority. When you delve into this situation a little further, you find out that this single mom was evicted without any due process or official notice. Mr. Speaker, in essence, normally when you evict someone, you make sure you go to the rentals office and you get the Supreme Court order and the rental office oversees that process. It is there to help the landlord...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whenever I, in my 10 years of politics here, whenever I heard the phrase “I hear your point” or “I take your point,” that usually tells me that someone’s going to vote against me or speak against whatever I just said. It couldn’t be clearer here today. The Minister has clearly dug in and is protecting and reaffirming a bad decision. And let’s face it, that’s exactly what it is, because it’s a sole-source, no other way around it. Why do you think so many people were looking into how does this make sense?

The Minister wants to improve this situation. As she has made it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is an honour to work with my colleague Mr. Norman Yakeleya, MLA for the Sahtu, on this motion, Mr. Speaker. It is always exciting when we can work on nation-building motions.

I believe this is a good project for the North that can help develop access and wide-ranging benefits for the whole area. Mr. Speaker, this is a significant project that could help the cost of living in the Sahtu. I think it would be one of those projects that would make the difference there. Mr. Speaker, it will also open up opportunities, as it says in the motion, to help tourism, exploration...

It’s interesting how the Minister paints the light as if it’s been fair and open. To say it went on the web page, she is correct, but the fact is that the Inuvik Health and Social Services was chasing down this… Obviously it’s clear that they were chasing down this business to participate in a public tender. But if you read the public tender, it says a specific company; we’re using their catalogue and references and numbers. How does the Department of Health and Social Services expect them to compete fairly and openly with what clearly looks like a sole-source contract dedicated to one...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 2-16(5) into Committee of the Whole for today.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Monday morning I was contacted by a constituent who was very concerned about a recent Department of Health public tender. Their business received a fax Friday afternoon from Inuvik Health to which they only noticed Monday morning and, by the way, Mr. Speaker, it closes this Thursday. To understand this situation and appreciate the complexity, I will describe it this way.

The tender was faxed to this office Friday, May 14th. The fax was examined on Monday morning, May 17th, and the tender closes on May 20th. Simply put, this business is only allowed four business days to...

I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 1-16(5) into Committee of the Whole for today.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I remind the Premier that the Minister is ultimately responsible? That’s what I’m asking for, is the Minister step in, stop protecting a bad decision, stop justifying a bad decision, and stop managing by the rear view mirror by saying we’ll look into it after it’s done. Because you know, by that time it’s long past. Mr. Speaker, it sets up a reputation of bad governance, bad contracting.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t really want to hear about board reform. I think it’s a red herring and a waste of this Assembly’s time. The question really comes down to, and I ask the Premier...