Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there lies the opportunity. The Premier could have had the courage to put money behind the portfolio and dignity and respect finally in a portfolio that's supposed to mean so much to so many. Why doesn't the Premier have the courage to make that proposal to Members now? Because not one of us would say no to supporting seniors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to my Member's statement today, I want to point out to how important I should say maybe it this way. I want to reaffirm how important seniors and elders are to me and our community. And I have no doubt every Member on the Member's side is feeling just as strongly that we care very deeply for our seniors and our elders, and we want to support them.

So my first question would be directed to the Premier, asking the question and perhaps maybe he can explain as the question why we don't have at least one Minister fully responsible for seniors and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Minister's statement Emergency Management Preparedness be referred to the Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I keep saying the same question different ways, but the Premier doesn't want to answer it, which is what type of transparency process can he bring to the Cabinet direct appointment process? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the current policy, which they operate on, allows any Cabinet Member to bring forward recommendations for appointments, and it has been used quite generously in the past and there's no way of suggesting it isn't going to be used generously in the future. That said but there's no transparency on what it does. And to get to the question in the context of the point, at least there's a public process for when the public service goes through a regular hiring process. That said, there's no public transparency on the number of people they hire or who they hire or when they hire. That's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure how the Premier can justify wasting the Assembly's time by not saying how he can help seniors better, Mr. Speaker, by giving the portfolio the respect and due it deserves. If there's a seniors' portfolio in the Government of Canada, I mean my goodness, are they wasting their time? So maybe the Minister can chair sorry, the Premier can clarify why that wouldn't serve them better? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that relationship already existed before this Premier took office. So the Simpson government has created the new position of doing less as the appearance of doing more from the sounds of it. Perhaps maybe he can explain how this is actually better, because the previous relationship worked just fine but we've taken away the symbolism, the prominence, the emphasis of a Minister responsible for seniors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm rising today because I want to talk about Northerners living healthier, longer, and retiring in the North.

Mr. Speaker, it is a shifting demographics and makeup like the seasons in nature, people's lives similarly follow their own course. People travel from their spring to their summer to the fall and even to the winter cycle of our days. Each journey is different, and each journey certainly has its own supports and needs. We need supports through independence, care, but always through respect as we go through these stages.

Mr. Speaker, seniors are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. But that actually didn't answer the question in any way. Like, how did they actually come up with the $750 mark? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is I see the program is closed for people to make their applications to apply for the program. Why did it close so early before at least the very least, that is, the end of the fiscal year? And I want to understand why they closed it and when did they publicly announce it so it's transparent to people? Thank you.