Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be quick. A few years ago I started advocating this problem that constituents of mine had unruly behaviour next to them in the parks and whatnot. There were fires and people cutting down trees, creating trash. While they were out in a lawful way enjoying the use of their property, people were shooting guns at them. It was noted the difficulty of having the RCMP bolt out of the city of Yellowknife to an area about 45 minutes outside of the city and getting there in a timely way. The difficulty, as I saw it, was they weren’t being protected by some type of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee noted, with concern, that the Commissioner received only one complaint in 2004-2005 and believes this is likely the result of a lack of awareness about the Official Languages Act and the Commissioner, especially in smaller communities. We, therefore, encourage the Commissioner to step up her efforts to publicize her office. In particular, we encourage her to undertake community visits to meet with stakeholders and to raise public awareness about her office and to also ensure that printed information about the complaints process is made available in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You are correct; I will be reading the report of the Review of the 2004-2005 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner.

Effective July 1, 2004, the mandate to preserve and promote official languages was transferred from the Languages Commissioner to two new languages boards under the authority of the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Commissioner’s role is now focused on ombudsman-like functions: monitoring compliance with the act; reviewing complaints; responding to requests for information; and initiating investigations where appropriate.

Membe...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this year the Conservative government initiated through discussion about $100 per month per child…National Childcare Allowance Program. As a parent with two little monsters, any extra money is certainly welcome. But the fact is, I’m not here to advocate the system that they’ve sort of instituted because the bottom line is their $100 a month pays for three days and what about the other 17? But, Mr. Speaker, my questions here today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment from the income support point of view. With that said, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the definitions the MACA Minister was rambling off don’t apply to the Northwest Territories. I have lived here almost 30 years and I have never seen a bicycle lane. I haven’t seen some of the infrastructure he’s talked about. None of them apply directly to the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife has the only transit bus system here. So can we get some type of commitment from the MACA Minister today that we will at least start by committing 80 percent of that funding, which rightly belongs to the City of Yellowknife, which has said it belongs to the City of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the heels of my Member’s statement today, I wish to seek clarification from the Minister as to what is the holdup of the money that is rightly deserved to the City of Yellowknife for the transit system. So I ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, why has the Minister delayed in inking a deal for the federal money to come to the Northwest Territories, the infrastructure money that is much needed by the City of Yellowknife? What has held the Minister up from doing that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is about the federal transit funding for the City of Yellowknife; the transit money, Mr. Speaker. In addition to the funding available under the New Deal for cities and communities, the federal government is making over a million dollars available for existing NWT public transit systems. I’ve been given to understand that this money is available and is just being held up by MACA’s inability to come up with a definition of what they can’t decide is existing transit, Mr. Speaker. This money’s been available since its initial announcement of...

That will be all for now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the GNWT work with Aurora College to deliver a basic interpreter/translator training program for aboriginal languages, as well as specialized training in medical terminology. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s my opinion that buildings are far more than bricks and mortar. They can breathe life into our community and certainly a policy like this will breathe life into the institutions we know as government.

Mr. Speaker, a public art scale of this mass will change the culture and the way we do business and although it looks like a little piece of paper, I think it goes far beyond that. It will define us for generations to come.

From my time being a Member here for the last three years, the Leg is truly an example of doing things right and doing them upfront as...