Robert Hawkins

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. 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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, this is an initiative that's welcomed by my constituents. When the Premier had mentioned it the other day, I actually got a couple phone calls yesterday. The concern is that we've got these cockroach drug dealers in our communities and we have to get that infestation out, and by putting the light on it, they scurry away. So we're dealing with them, Mr. Speaker. To me, it's finally putting the light on crime and we're cracking down. So my last question, I think, to the Minister of Justice, is what type of consultation in the sense of partnership is he...

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. In Mr. Roland’s fiscal update yesterday to the people of the Northwest Territories, there were two potentially positive announcements that could have a positive impact and a serious effect on our capital infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. The first was the $18 million increase in the operating surplus for the last fiscal year, and the second was the commitment by the federal government to respond to a request to remove the $300 million debt limit by the end of this year.

Mr. Speaker, two things arise out of this. The first one is, I’m definitely concerned that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions, on the orders of the day for one question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to hear the Minister’s list of priorities, because I am not sure we have another need out there that demands such a high priority as our dementia facility. We need to be treating people in a proper facility suited to this specific need. Will the Minister tell me today, where are his priorities on this facility in comparison to any other priorities? Is it the top priority of his department to get this dementia facility built in a timely way in the city of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today, as well as on many other occasions, I speak about the need to ensure that we have a territorial dementia centre built sooner rather than later. Mr. Speaker, it is a serious concern that I have that there may not be funding in this upcoming capital budget plan for our next budget fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is, what is the current status of the territorial dementia centre facility that is supposed to be a partnership between the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This situation reminds me of the old saying that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. Mr. Speaker, the public picks us, our friends pick us, our families pick us to all come to this Assembly as a family and to work together. Like many things, events in real life, things happen that we regret. I can personally tell you that I regret seeing what happened yesterday. I can feel the concern that Mr. Ramsay has. You can hear it in his voice.

That said, I also feel the sincerity from the Minister of his regret, because he made it quite clear, without...