Robert Hawkins

Sorry, Mr. Chairman. You flew through page 14 a little too quickly. I had a question on a couple of items on page 14.

Mr. Chairman, if I got that right, we had 607 assessment days in total. Now, was that all court ordered? What is the cost of a psychiatric professional if they were to be staffed at this end? Thank you.

My concern is what the Minister just pointed out right there. She read the letter and she reviewed the letter, but I’m concerned it wasn’t written by the Minister or with the intent to call it what is was.

“There’s a phone number here. They can call in.” Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about taking the responsibility one level further. I’m sure employees aren’t too busy to call folks once every three months to make sure they’re doing okay.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister again: will she move forward by setting up a policy that encourages our staff to get out there? When someone goes through treatment...

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister has offered to do there, and I’ll take his commitment on that.

Can I get a sense of the timeframe on when he expects that — updates, or the act to be made public — so we can have some public discussion on that? Further, can he assure me that he will deliver any updates on those suggestions to me as soon as possible?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that. But one of the issues I highlighted in my Member’s statement is that if somebody gets a job — and let’s say they’re a renter here in Yellowknife, and they get a job maybe somewhere in Nunakput, like my good colleague here — they have to break their lease. What if they’ve just signed a year’s lease? This isn’t a hypothetical question, because this actually does happen. So they’re forced to pay out the remainder of the lease if they want to take a great job advancement somewhere else. The protection doesn’t exist to allow them…. They only get out of...

Today I will speak on behalf of many of my constituents who rent their accommodations in Yellowknife Centre.

The Residential Tenancies Act allows landlords to raise the rents once per year with adequate notice. This puts tenants at a disadvantage when it comes time to renegotiate a lease. They can be left in a position with little options: they can be offered a 12-month lease with a rental increase, or they can enter into a month-by-month lease with even a larger increase.

The problem arises as to whether you commit yourself to a long-term lease and realize some savings, or you lose the...

Today, I’d like to table a letter sent to me by the Minister of Health and Social Services on February 5th. The title of the letter is: Follow-up to Oral Question 43-16(1), Addictions Treatment Program.

Document 15-16(2), Letter from Minister of Health and Social Services re: Addictions Treatment Program, tabled.

Mr. Speaker, we’re asking for a simple process. The Minister can set forward an initiative, a directive, by saying “Create a consultation process that phones people once every three months, six months” — whatever the Minister feels appropriate — “to re-engage folks.” We’re throwing money away if we send them out for treatment and we don’t help them follow through. Treatment is a lifelong process. We just can’t say, “Here’s a pill. Take it. Good luck. See you later. You’re on your own.” I want to see that we follow up with people. It’s a good investment for people; it shows the government cares...

Mr. Speaker, in November I raised the issue of follow-up on treatment programs for individuals. My questions were directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister wrote me back, just a couple of days ago, in response to my concern about not having a follow-up process. One of the statements in her letter to me basically put the onus back on the person who’s sought treatment programs and basically said it’s their obligation to work through this process, and if they want to call in for support, it’s up to them

Mr. Speaker, my concern is that the Minister is taking, back to my...

I wasn’t 100 per cent clear on the Minister’s answers there. Did he say he would take into consideration those two areas of concern I raised: the way increases happen in the context of the amount; and further, about helping people get out of their leases if they’re built into contracts and they have to leave the normal municipality they live in?