Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will we still have a piecemeal process going on? I compliment the Minister on allowing a transfer to go through just in September that gave the city access to three parcels of land. We further pushed back the rest of the lands for a decision to be made in January. Regardless of what is going to happen in January, is the Minister prepared to act on the remaining outstanding applications that the City of Yellowknife has for lands and stop holding the city hostage? They need to continue to develop lands for houses and businesses, et cetera. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I promised earlier, I do have my thought-provoking questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, status quo has truly become the norm. The one-year land lease-only policy is probably up to 16 years of life. The roadblocks for the City of Yellowknife are still being put in front of them because they need land to develop in a reasonable way. They try to work with the Yellowknives. Will the Minister provide an update on the status of discussions between himself and the Yellowknives Dene on how the City’s land requests are coming...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight met on October 11, 2005, to review Bill 6, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2005. This act makes minor amendments to a number of statutes. Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 6 as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 6. Individual Members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the goals are important factors to judge against, but unfortunately those goals were measured two years ago when oil was at 30-some dollars a barrel. It was $64 a barrel yesterday. So recognizing times have changed and contracts need to be adjusted to reflect those things, it’s important. I take this as a serious enough issue that we should be involved in what are some of the criteria that these DMs are being judged against so they get their bonuses, because I’d like to see this government reward good behaviour and not reward less good...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Premier, also known as the Maytag repairman, be willing to make these requirements and management criteria available to all Members of this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one wants to circumvent the process for the Yellowknives Dene in the land that is rightly theirs. But, Mr. Speaker, consultation needs to come to a close eventually. So if there is still a process that has reached no further results due to the negotiations on land selection, what is the Minister going to do? Is he going to finally agree to turn over those lands in January that the city has had out on request for quite a long time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am pleased to be back in this House today after a long break doing constituency work, et cetera. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a warm welcome to Mr. Lafferty from Monfwi. I’ve known him a long time, since our Akaitcho Hall days, and I can say truly that he’ll be a great contribution to this House and to the Tlicho people. I can say that with a full heart.

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to bring up the fact that almost a year ago today I rose on a statement to express deep concern about world oil prices and the effects that can cause crises elsewhere...

All I can say is the Premier will expect that question tomorrow, so that’s his notice on this question.

Mr. Speaker, to ensure maximum conservation on the part of this government, given the new reality, I want to hear what this Minister has to say about mandatory reporting and monitoring of all government agencies, boards and departments. Do we do this? If not, why not? What do we do with this information that we get to ensure we conserve to our maximum ability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. We’ve all heard the saying many hands make light work. We all know if these many hands turn off those light switches that I talked about or turned off those ignitions to stop making cars idle, we will save a lot of money. So those many hands will be contributing to those lower costs to run these facilities and cars. So my concern last year was what was their policy and action plan. We now find ourselves in peril where fuel prices are skyrocketing. So my question for the Minister is -- and all residents of the Northwest Territories want to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a pleasure that I recognize three constituents that I could see from my vantage point. The Right Reverend Bishop Sperry; one of my favourite feisty seniors, Ed Jeske; and Lydia Bardak who wears so many hats there is nowhere to start. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause