Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the Premier could give me some indication as to when this letter may be going out, I suspect it’s probably under some quite significant scrutiny to make sure on a big issue like this that it gets written properly so the messages are clear. Would the Premier be able to indicate roughly when this letter would be going out? Because I’ll give the Premier the latitude of the assumption that if it’s going out this week, maybe next week, I am certainly satisfied to wait until the letter goes out, but if the letter is going to be sitting on his desk for another month due...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, my question is in regards to the concerns I was raising last week, which was Canada’s involvement with the missile defence program specifically with the United States, and my questions were directed to the Premier during question period at that time. I can refer to the page and whatnot but, just in a brief summary, I was asking about our involvement and where is our policy and what are we doing about it. The last item mentioned in a return to my question by the Premier was basically this issue would be brought up with his meeting with the Prime Minister...

Mr. Speaker, speaking from a territorial perspective now, what are we doing about the small communities that suffered these services? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this survey noted that 26 percent of the doctors are scaling back their service in the next few years. Mr. Speaker, only four percent are looking at increasing the service. Historically doctors have been known to work 70 and 80 hours per week, whereas now they are working barely 50. Mr. Speaker, what is the department doing? I would like to hear a concrete plan of what they are doing as an action plan to bring new doctors to the Northwest Territories, recognizing that 60 percent are scaling back and 3,800 are potentially retiring within two years across...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll say thank you, Mr. Minister, for that commitment. Mr. Speaker, I’ll ask for one more commitment from the Minister responsible for Housing in which he did refer to private industry being able to access a pot of funds or a pot of money in order to allow social housing to happen in private buildings. Will he commit to investigate the possibility of applying that policy to anyone who accesses this funding to have those folks in their buildings? Will he commit to seeing that that policy can apply to them as well as in the private industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister is saying about 194 people in our housing. Mr. Speaker, what I’m looking for is a firm commitment on national guidelines, something that is clear cut. Can the Minister commit today that his department will create a policy, be it a booklet or whatever, on national standards and this can be applied to all of our social housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to speak about my concerns about the territorial government not having a formal policy in dealing with social housing with people with disabilities. Mr. Speaker, I happened to go back to the transcripts and I noted that for some reason that slipped through my fingers during question period, and so I will be raising that concern with much stronger diligence this time.

Mr. Speaker, I had asked the Minister at that time about where our policy is, and I still don’t see us having a policy and I’m afraid that got missed. So, Mr. Speaker, I have to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I totally support this motion. I just want to make a couple of quick comments. First of all, I find it really heartening that we have a clause in there that points out about disabilities and independent living. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see that this government takes a strong, firm grip on the type of policy that helps enable our people in healthy living conditions.

Mr. Speaker, I truly believe housing is a critical issue out there. It’s a basic need. Tom Jackson, the famous singer, once said, you know, if there’s no house, life doesn’t really matter. He...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when does that agreement that the honourable Minister speaks about expire, and does that apply just to surgeons or does that apply to all general practitioners? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise again today because I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Yesterday I talked about my concerns about the shortage of doctors in emergency rooms and in clinics. Mr. Speaker, a national physician survey conducted by the College of Family Physicians in Canada, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons basically said there was an alarming state in regards to doctor supply. In brief, there were two serious observations: 21,000 doctors were surveyed, and 60 percent of them are...