Robert Hawkins

Madam Speaker, I was so inspired with the happy answers from the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, I was inspired to write a written question. These questions are in reference to the past two fiscal years and are limited to the Yellowknife region only.

My question is for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation:

What is the total number of people turned away from the program, either disqualified by the department or the financial institution used to apply for a mortgage?

Of the number declined from the EDAP, what number were results of lack of available...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will say thank you, Mr. Minister, for moving forward on that issue.

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Thank you, good Minister. Madam Speaker, would the Minister…I’m overwhelmed at this moment. He’s budged. Madam Speaker, the question I want to ask is would the Minister agree today to at his earliest convenience by next week, can he update this sort of Yellowknife information that I had requested in my written question of March 9th, which is asking the details on the Yellowknife recipients? So would he update the letter he had sent me under his signature that there was some typos in?...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions will be for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, the Honourable David Krutko. Madam Speaker, I am still concerned that there is zero transparency on this program and I’m not even sure I can quote any numbers because we don’t even know if they’re all correct. I’ve never been replied to with a new profile, a signed letter to say that they’re all correct. So, Madam Speaker, the point of transparency still stands. Will this Minister hear me when I say confidentiality is not an issue to be hiding behind, because if he goes...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today is my last day in the House for this session, and it’s still EDAP day as far as I am concerned.

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Transparency, in my opinion, has been far beyond weak, it’s more like pathetic when it comes to finding out who is receiving grants and what scenarios and why. Madam Speaker, it took a week to produce a paper to say if you make more money you get less of a grant; if you make less money you get more of a grant. It took a week to produce this and this doesn’t say anything other than the obvious, Madam Speaker. It does not say if you have a...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I want to applaud the Minister for clarifying that because no one is above making an error, and certainly a clerical error could happen to anyone out there, and I’m certainly not perfect myself. That being said, this whole issue about the transparency of this program, I’m still trying to get justification as to why we give such large grants to so few. So, Madam Speaker, I ask the question to the Minister, why are we giving such large grants to so few and would he provide those details of transparency so we can move forward on this issue? Thank you...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I guess what I’m getting at is the City of Yellowknife may feel the pressure of the Yellowknives Dene and their right to entitlement of land, so maybe they haven’t applied for those particular lands, recognizing there is a right. Yet the City of Yellowknife is going back and looking seriously at its nature preserves and its green space. I’m looking for the Premier to make sure he plays a role in this process. I’m asking the Premier in his capacity of possibly Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to make sure that the selection process goes forward and we can get that moving...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I was saying in my Member’s statement today, I am concerned that possibly we could be reaching an area of stalemate between the City of Yellowknife and the Yellowknives Dene. I firmly believe the Yellowknives Dene have a right to land, and land that belongs to them and their personal development, so do I believe in the growth of the city of Yellowknife and I’d hate to see that impeded in any way. My question to the Premier is would he use his mediation skills, talents and abilities to help mediate the situation before a stalemate reaches an untimely death? Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Decentralization for decentralization should not be considered a mandate or a policy that we should live by. I’m concerned that we’re moving this because, first and foremost, we have a facility in Fort Smith already and if it was a matter of establishing a facility in Hay River to make them feel good about their potential loss and maybe move forward for that, then maybe we should be moving the one from Fort Smith there. I don’t know. We talk about spreading things around equitably, well, we have one in the South Slave already. Now we’re going to have two in the South...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’ll recognize the Minister’s passion for getting people out of public housing into personal home ownership but before we move on too far, I would like to hear from the Minister because we did talk about that $109,000. If the Minister could clarify exactly when they realized when there was a clerical error and why they didn’t come down to my office immediately to clarify this, because this has been an issue out there for a week. A lot of people are very concerned about this. So when did this information come forward to the Minister that the letter he had sent to...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, on March 9th I submitted a written question to the Minister of Housing in regard to information about the EDAP program. The reasoning behind that is because there is an urban legend out there about crazy amounts being given to people. On April 7th I had a great response from the Minister referring to the area I was specifically asking about, which was Yellowknife. It pointed out many detailed pieces of information in Yellowknife. All along I’ve been asking about the transparency issue and why are we giving such large dollars to so few. That’s all...