Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Madam Chair. The things I’m going to say are really reflective of what I’ve heard in my community, the constituency of Yellowknife Centre. The fact is, I appreciate the work the commission did, but we also have to keep in context that they are an advisory group and they do not force us. They are an administrative body that we commissioned out of this House to go find research, come back and to substantiate what they heard into some formulation and then send it off as a proposal to the politicians. Now, in essence, the politicians are the ones that actually have to make the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I spoke about the need to have a territorial celebration of the arts. What I was getting at is the Northwest Territories needs to take the lead on initiatives to help embrace and help promote our arts community. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is, would he look into establishing an NWT arts achievement award night? It could either be an annual or semi-annual event. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister earlier said it was approximately $100 million spent in resupplying the mines this spring and summer, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s a shame that that money is being spent in that regard. We could be putting it into real infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. When we have a Prime Minister who says if we do not approve the pipeline, there will be no resource deal, so, Mr. Speaker, let’s turn that around and say if the Prime Minister doesn’t approve infrastructure and a resource deal for the NWT, we should say no pipeline, Mr. Speaker. Let’s show him who truly is standing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I was getting to in my Member’s statement, I was talking about this government not taking a sit down approach when dealing with the federal government. Mr. Speaker, we need year-round access to our mining corridor and, Mr. Speaker, we need a Transportation Minister to deliver that message. So to start to get to some of the answers to these questions, can the Minister tell me if his Department of Transportation has any preliminary estimates or any information on how much industry has spent this spring and summer because of the loss of their winter road access through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that $100 million would have been good money going into highway infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, with a partnership three ways with the federal and territorial government, but that’s another argument. Mr. Speaker, can I get some timelines from this Minister? Nunavut is considering the Bathurst Inlet port and if we are asleep at the switch too long, they are going to jump ahead of us on this opportunity. So what type of timeline can this Minister of Transportation tell me he’s going to work with industry to ensure we are doing this project in a timely way? Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in Yellowknife, it was plus five degrees. I checked the weather before I came downstairs, it was plus three degrees in Yellowknife and it was plus nine in Hay River. So I am getting at the fact that the climate is changing. Does the Minister of Transportation have any estimates on what it would cost to turn the Ingraham Trail into a year-round road, not of paving or chipseal quality, but simply a year-round access road to the diamond mine corridor? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In 2004, there were over 50,000 passengers and cargo flights landing in Yellowknife. This year, the number of flights grew by 30,000 flights because the winter roads closed early. A lot of these flights flew over Yellowknife waking babies, upsetting parents and causing a serious amount of noise pollution. When and if the pipeline goes ahead, flights over Yellowknife will only seriously increase.

Last year, the diamond mines were only able to get about two-thirds of their vehicles that they required in to get their freight and resupply ready. That forces them to find extra alternative ways to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to first start off by saying I am so excited to hear that the government is responding to demands from MLAs in fighting the crime, Mr. Speaker. So on the heels of my Member's statement today, I'm quite taken aback because sometimes Members bring forward discussion ideas and proposals and I was so pleased that the Premier brought forward the safe communities initiative in his opening statement. So my question, then, to the Minister of Justice would be, Mr. Speaker, what are some of the details and timelines of a proposed new bill on Safe...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really appreciate that answer from the Justice Minister. Mr. Speaker, the Minister did talk about bringing forward a proposal to the Social Programs committee. My next question would be, although he sort of answered it just for clarity of course, can the good Minister foresee that new legislation or a new act would be brought forward in the life of this Assembly to deal with this crime problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last June I urged Justice Minister Bell to follow the lead of other Canadian jurisdictions and bring forward a Safe Communities and Neighbourhood Act for the NWT, along with effective enforcement tools.

I proposed this new initiative so we could bring community empowerment back to folks and take it away from those drug dealers and crack houses from trying to take over our communities. Mr. Speaker, I asked the Justice Minister to move quickly on this discussion paper and to bring a bill with the hope that new legislation could be implemented in this Assembly in a timely...