Robert Hawkins

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I am very happy to provide some comments to the Minister’s opening of his budget for this type of discussion.

Mr. Chairman, a lot of issues that I think could go a long ways, you know I wish that the department would find a way, and they haven’t here, but I wish they would find a way that we could address some of our issues that we have in Income Support with moving the social work component back into Income Support. That was a mistake made by the government in its wisdom, back in the day, when they thought, well, maybe the social worker component should be over with the...

Mr. Speaker, not focussed at the Minister directly, but I think Cabinet is part of the problem. I think each department provides its own bottleneck to the issue, whether it is to supply land, whether it is the transfer of the land, whether it is negotiations or whatnot. I think Cabinet could actually show some real leadership to address the cost of living by helping with supporting the costs of development of the land. Would the Minister be able to bring this to the Cabinet table to start addressing these initiatives? They could start at the Cabinet table to show leadership throughout the...

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those elements. They sort of speak to the overall bottom line of the cost of living. I certainly won’t ignore the fact that the Minister is correct that the budget does attempt to glaze over these issues. If anything, the reality is nothing really changes on the bottom line.

Mr. Speaker, the fact is, I think the Construction Association again is on the right issue. They believe addressing some of the cost of living factors are let’s tackle one of the pillars which is housing. So, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister, has the Cost of Living committee ever thought about...

Mr. Speaker, quite simply put: when did the Minister go out to, whether it’s an aboriginal hunting organization, if I may define them in that way, such as the chiefs or the bands, and certainly with the outfitters of saying what could be your bare minimum that could get you through the winter until we can get these types of boards such as the Wekeezhii board to make that decision? When was that type of discussion going to take place or when did that discussion take place by empowering them to make the decisions for themselves as opposed to government flying in and saying you’re done? Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources regarding the steps and process put into place regarding this caribou issue. Mr. Speaker, I have constituents of First Nations background who say to me that some of their people are going hungry. I have constituents who own outfitting lodges that now they can’t bring in people to hunt these caribou and they say they’re going to go hungry. Mr. Speaker, the reality is if you depend on this, people are put at risk. I’m curious as to what steps the Minister has put into place to...

Mr. Speaker, people building houses in some particular cases do not require trade certification. So, in other words, the homeowner, or I should say potential homeowner, could be put at significant risk trying to fulfill part of their family’s dream of owning their own house. This government shows little interest in doing this. Mr. Speaker, it is the cost of taking a serious look at legislation that already exists. It is the cost of printing it on paper, which really isn’t that expensive. Mr. Speaker, it is not a big cost. Would the Minister commit to this House that he would investigate the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the issue of lack of legislation to protect new homeowners. If their home is built and there are problems, in essence the new potential homeowner is the one left holding the bag and that risk. Mr. Speaker, with some thorough research, I was unable to find any policies that exist in our government that helps protect these types of people from these risks. I am going to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, because he is also the Minister who would be in charge of consumer protection services so I think that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about insurance for what is usually the most expensive item that an individual or even a family will ever purchase and that is the family home. For many people who are out there buying new homes, they’ll find that they’re either very limited or there is no warranty at all for their new home purchase.

Mr. Speaker, that’s certainly not right, because if you go down today to Canadian Tire to buy a lawnmower and it doesn’t work, you can take it back because it has a warranty.

Mr. Speaker, if you go down to YK Chrysler and buy a new car, it comes with a...

Mr. Speaker, I try not to impress upon anyone that I am an environmental scientist in the area of caribou study in no way or no matter, but the reality is I am sure that there could have been an identifiable number said that we can find a minimum. That is what I am talking about; about making sure that people can eat and people can fulfill some of their traditional lifestyles without the government impeding on that type of philosophy. Mr. Speaker, is it too late for this government to find a balance to work out with the First Nations people of this area as well as finding a way for outfitters...

Mr. Speaker, if this was on the radar for so long, why didn’t the Department of ENR manage what I would define as a sustainable hunt? And I would balance it equally between the local, traditional people who need to hunt this for food as well as, of course, the business type of people such as the outfitters who depend on this, who hire local people, and that meat goes to food. Mr. Speaker, we have two large impacted groups that if this was in the red zone continually, why wasn’t early on a number identified so these groups could work together and find a manageable balance? Thank you.