Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 19, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2005-2006, and Bill 16, Tobacco Control Act, and would like to report that that Bills 19 and 16 are ready for third reading. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. I’m on page 12, Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, health services programs, not previously authorized, $716,000, community health programs, not previously authorized, $752,000, total department, $1.468 million. Agreed?

Thank you. Page 21. Oh, sorry; Mr. Yakeleya, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while reducing the taxes to small business, again I say, a darn good thing, but, Mr. Speaker, we have to make a solid point on this. You have to be getting contracts in order to have something to deduct in order to make that two percent reduction worth anything.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have to go through the statistics I said the other day, as well as just earlier, that the Minister does monitor through the registry of the sole sourcing and the sourcing that goes south at 92 percent for Stanton. Would the Minister consider options such as maybe replacing the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today will be for the Minister of Industry, Tourist and Investment. This morning I received an e-mail regarding the potential dropping of the BIP, Mr. Speaker, and it appears several small businesses are concerned, in the e-mail that I received. It looks like it may be replaced by a two percent reduction, from this e-mail that I have before me. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, how is this idea being floated out to northern businesses about the potential dropping of the BIP and replacing it with a small two percent reduction...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I respectfully think that the Minister missed the point on the sole sourcing, because what I am saying is 92 percent of the business in Stanton Territorial Hospital went south. That took away any opportunity that these northern businesses had to tender or the opportunity to tender, I should say, on those contracts. That just flew right over them, Mr. Speaker. That is why I drew that comparison. Yes, BIP doesn’t apply to that, but BIP is about establishing solid grounds where northern businesses can be competitive. Mr. Speaker, I still go back to what I said on the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I'll definitely say anything that helps small business is certainly a good step. But, Mr. Speaker, there is a concern out there that this dropping of the BIP may be steamrolled and consultation may be just for formality. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to point out a couple of things. The Minister's tabled documents in this House have pointed out that Health and Social Services sole sources 77 percent of their contracts. A letter from Minister Miltenberger, which I tabled in this House, pointed out that 92 percent of their business at Stanton Territorial Hospital goes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During AOC committee’s pre-budget consultation last year, an issue came up across the NWT and it was the need for more relevant programming in schools for our northern students. This includes northern aboriginal language, culture, land claim agreements, traditional skills and history of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, this only makes sense that our youth be taught, in a coordinated way, our culture, history and current events of the North that they live in. Learning about southern Canada and other parts of the globe is very important too, Mr. Speaker, but it should not take such...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I won’t have a question, but I do have a clarification. I’m speaking about when we lend public money and I think public money follows a different rule than private money. I appreciate that the Minister distinguishes that we use some of the public money to leverage private money, but I still think that because it’s the government’s money, it’s the people’s money. We can still play by our rule, which is the disclosure rule. We may not see eye to eye and then again we may never see eye to eye on that point, but it’s how I feel and I feel that it’s very important in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister mentioned or alluded to the fact that it’s an historical problem. I would like to hear that the Minister is working to put this in writing, so we can make sure at least a fair premium is charged in recognition of where we are in comparison to where Antwerp is. The diamond mines are on our doorstep, Mr. Speaker, yet they cost more. I would like to hear what the options are that the Minister is going to look at if the diamond mine that we are talking about doesn’t step up to the plate and supply diamonds at a fair and reasonable price to our...