Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the need for legislation that comes forward that’s comprehensive and reaches out and provides support and regulation to alternative therapies. As a Member of the Legislative Assembly here, I feel strongly that our job is to make sure that we develop legislation that protects our citizens, and legislation that is developed for alternative therapy I think is the way to go.

Listening to the Minister’s responses to some questions earlier, I’d like the Minister, maybe for the House, to define and elaborate on the scope of what the...

Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister is missing out on an important component of this particular option before us here, is the fact that we have industry who wants to be regulated to ensure that they’re providing the best services, qualified services, trained services to their patients. Mr. Speaker, they’re speaking to their own, sort of, code of ethics that they go out. You know, naturopathy takes a significant amount of education. Massage therapists, if I understand, take at least two years of instruction and certainly with practical experience there are a lot of people developing significant...

I outlined a number of them in my Member’s statement, which is massage therapist, naturopaths and acupuncturists. There are other alternative medicines out there, and I use the word “alternative” in the sense of option. A lot of people think that there are many solutions to getting healthier and it’s not necessarily driven by just taking a pill. Many people like to take a natural approach. What would hold the Minister back from including these alternatives and other suggestions I’m providing here today? What’s holding the Minister and the department back from including these options in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About three-quarters of Canadians seek some type of alternative therapy. Therefore, I’m standing today to speak in support of fair and reasonable regulations over alternative therapies such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and naturopath therapy.

Mr. Speaker, regulation has been called for many times by many of these people and these organizations. It’s been calling out to this government by both therapists and clients. These people would like the government to move forward on regulations and protection measures that would ensure both the therapists and the clients...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to define the Western Arctic seat is a much coveted seat by all the parties in their desperation to get a majority. I wouldn’t want to give them an easy ride and assume that it will go one way or the other, I think they should fight hard and earn that seat, Mr. Speaker.

I guess my last question to the Premier would be: would the Premier see either good value of the territorial government publicizing all answers provided by national parties on northern particular issues as they respond to questions from this government about how they plan to commit and...

That’s the exact type of answer I’m certainly looking for and certainly constituents of mine. Recognizing that the Assembly is a non-partisan Assembly, it makes it very difficult to support one party over the other.

Would the Premier have any specific plans on how to articulate the answers provided by both the national parties and the individual candidates to make sure that, first of all, our questions are out there and certainly that the answers are meeting the needs of Northerners? That’s part of the issue out there, is people want to know what the national parties will bring to the table to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It makes me very proud to use the opportunity to recognize two of our youngest guests we have in the gallery today, my sons, McKinley Hawkins and his younger brother, Hudson Hawkins. Thank you.

It may be difficult to answer today, but I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing some creativity from the Premier on this particular issue. How do you think we could get the commitments made by the national parties out there to our northern citizens? I want to make sure that they earn the seat of Western Arctic. I don’t want anybody to get an easy ride and realize that the Government of the Northwest Territories is standing by supporting either one candidate and not another or, of course, making sure that the people have a full digest as to the commitments people are willing to make from a national...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about past efforts to get northern issues on the table for discussion and certainly commitments during federal campaigns. In the past, former-Premier Handley has done this as well as, I’d like to note, even Premier Roland during the last election followed suit on the particular issue of raising questions to get responses from both candidates who are striving for that much coveted seat of Western Arctic and of course getting it from the national parties.

My question for the Premier is: does he intend to follow this particular...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, has announced that the federal budget will be tabled on March 22nd and accordingly there is a great deal of speculation about what the budget may contain and whether the opposition will support it in the end. As the budget is a confidence vote, then, clearly, if not one of the opposition parties support it, the government will fall and there will be an election this coming May.

As far back as 2004 I have spoken in the House about the importance of the Premier providing the Western Arctic candidates for the Member of Parliament...