Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps pointing that they talked to them, and that’s right. I mean, YK No. 1 talks to the deputy minister of Education all the time. And as a matter of fact, I bet they talk about schools and educational programs and infrastructure all the time. So, Mr. Speaker, that’s a fair observation, but we’re really coming down to the nuts and bolts of this, which is the consult and the report and the plan. So ultimately, I want to make sure that they get in contact with the YK No. 1 school board. That’s all I’m asking. That’s all that needs to be done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in my oral questions and Member’s statement I was talking about the two schools in Yellowknife Centre, one would be J.H. Sissons and the other would be Mildred Hall. In my questions to the Minister I was trying to raise the fact that with these schools there are several areas of renovations that need to be tackled and certainly addressed. The Minister, in his response, said that there was an educational review currently underway. I spoke to some of the officials over at YK No. 1 and they’re not aware of this educational review that’s going on at...

Mr. Speaker, I believe there is a firm role here for government to backstop the public to make sure that regulations and oversight exist before something goes off the rails. Mr. Speaker, it’s clear that these types of loans are given to people with low income or, certainly, to middle income Canadians and puts them in financial risk. Why is the Minister waiting for complaints in order to act rather than doing something? Mr. Speaker, the opportunity exists here. Would the Minister act and look into regulations and develop them in a fair way as seven other provinces have in this country?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I talked about payday loans and the fact that I believe the territorial consumer is being left at risk. I think that’s time for this government to take an active interest in this file and rather than wait for an accident to happen, we should take control of it through sound, reasonable regulations.

Mr. Speaker, seven out of 10 of the provinces in this Dominion of Canada have ensured that low rates exist for people who have to go to Payday Loans, and they’ve ensured that the protection of the citizens is certainly a priority.

Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just want to echo my comments. I always find the Department of Transportation quite responsive to many of my concerns, so I should put that on record. Although, the Minister always seems to give me a hard time, the staff’s efforts seem to make up for that. Thank you.

---Laughter

Is there a dollar amount attached to any program here that could help start or seed an opportunity? Is there a particular budget line item that could reflect that opportunity if people were to come forward in the private industry and say they’d be willing to take on some of these challenges? Is the Minister able to highlight that? Thank you.

I could swear that the Minister was reading off my list of questions because I wanted to go through that. He did mention tires and that’s another issue that I’ve raised a number of times, about getting a tire shredder organized and perhaps we could partner with the Yukon government whether we drive it up the Mackenzie Highway throughout the winter and drop it off in communities and leave it there in a centralized place over a couple-year period or, for example, as I mentioned earlier perhaps even barge these things down in a collective manner. I mean, basically this becomes just a useless...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure the Minister is getting my point. The fact is, he’s saying that there’s a review going on and I’ve got a school board that says they haven’t heard from the reviewer. So that’s the only issue at hand here, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that I need to be assured, this House needs to be assured, there needs to be a clear message from the Minister of Education that the consultant will be instructed to make sure that they consult with YK No. 1 in a timely way to make sure their schools that are in desperate need of renovations are considered in this...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Specific to the management of drinking water in the NWT, what role does Municipal and Community Affairs partner with the City of Yellowknife specific to that, and is there a dollar amount attached to that support or is it just community money? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that answer from the Minister. Is the Minister aware that J.H. Sissons is the priority of YK No. 1 to be updated and the fact that it needs things like a fire alarm panel update? It has many combustible materials that need to be addressed and it turns into a bit of a health and safety problem. Of course, I’m not trying to alert the fire marshal, but the reality is the school has a lot of upgrades that need to be done. Mr. Speaker, are these types of things that will help make it on top of the priority list, from his point of view? Thank you.