Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services with respect to the monolith challenge and the impact challenge the day shelter is going to have on the community of Yellowknife Centre and Yellowknife at large.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask in the context of when a road is built, we have impact funds and other types of things similar. And that is particularly the issue. So my question for the Minister specifically is now what impact fund is being designed to support the impacts of the community of Yellowknife Centre once this giant shelter, to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, I will present to the House Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just quickly back to the policy issue about revisiting our having a discussion, can we get a sense of when maybe the finance Minister could have that type of open dialogue so we can -- again, I'm trying to send a message of hope here and I'm looking for a little inspiration, so if she could kind of help me guide them and say, you're going to have valuable input on core funding inflationary issues and multi-year agreements that we'll carve into stone so we can move forward as the format, and I'm hoping she can give me that hope and inspiration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll provide that specific to the Minister. She's asked me who, I'll let her know. Mr. Speaker, she is in charge of FMB policies which are the overarching financial policies. Would the Minister open up a discussion with NGOs to ensure that our financial management policies do actually reflect their needs? So in other words, things like multi-year agreements are the standard unless, and that type of discussion with them? So in other words, would the Minister be willing to open up that type of discussion to the NGO groups? Because we met with them right after getting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a petition that I'll, in the near future, table before the House, not today, but it has over a thousand signatures. The point being is there's a lot of people concerned about the impacts. Would the Minister go to the community again, call a community meeting, and discuss about how to address the impacts? Again, not about removing the shelter, the impacts the shelter will have on the community. Will she do that for the community who needs that conversation again and again until we get it right? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, I want to reaffirm that the merits and principles are not the issue of the shelter, so I want to make sure we never go on a tangent in the wrong direction on that.

Mr. Speaker, the last shelter that was downtown had impacts. Security cameras to be put on buildings. Homes were threatened. People were doing people things in yards -- I'll leave it at that, I won't use that language. But that said, Mr. Speaker, it impacted neighbourhoods and changed neighbourhoods specifically. What is the Minister doing to meet the needs of the community that this giant shelter...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Firstly, and I want to make it absolutely clear, there is shelter support downtown whereas in people don't mind having the day shelter on its way. Mr. Speaker, it's a project the community does acknowledge and certainly embraces in its own way. Mr. Speaker, however, the issue has come down to, and continues to be, the size of the shelter. Are we building a premium shelter, the shelter to solve all problems? It's not just big, it's bloated. It's going to solve every problem in the North. That's the fear of the community, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I want to make it absolutely...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement I talked about trying to be innovative, exciting, and maybe even in some ways courageous about trying to find housing solutions. I did point to two different types of Ministers, which is, you know, one could be municipal and certainly one could be housing. But I think I'm going to go to my favorite Minister today which would be the Minister of housing. I'm saying today.

So that said, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to focus in on the area of my statement that talked about Rockhill. Mr. Speaker, the reason I specify that and this particular Minister is...

Well, now that I have the mic and I have nine minutes and 45 seconds no, no, Madam Chair, I'm going to pass, in all seriousness, on this page. And I'll raise it as needed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ever so briefly, as the downtown Member of this Assembly and when I refer to downtown, that's Yellowknife Centre it's a very urban riding and it's impacted heavily by this. This is when I spoke to the neighbourhoods in the community, in the core of the city, you know, this was their number one issue. You know, it might be housing in a small community, and it might be health care on other people, but I can tell you the downtown core of Yellowknife, crime and the reduction of crime is foremost on their mind. There is, you know, nothing burdens them more than this, and...