Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I -- specifically to the quiet quitting comment, I certainly withdraw it, and I apologize for that and to the House. Thank you very much for recognizing the differences. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've already read the motion in to acknowledge Mr. Comeau will be coming in. And to him, I wish him the greatest success as he follows Mr. Floyd Powder.

I asked Mr. Powder the other day, who I only casually know but gotten a little bit better -- known a little better since I've come back to the Assembly in this last year, I asked him the other day what are you going to do? And he has a long list of what -- you know, they often say retirement is not for the faint at heart. In other words, you end up doing so much. And he started in the most passionate way describing how...

I think -- (audio) Mr. Speaker, I didn't characterize they're bad people. As a matter of fact, if two more seconds the Minister would have said we'd hire a Jane Philipott, a health czar, Mr. Speaker. The intent was not to hurt individuals or single the single individual out, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Northerners really care about their health care. It matters. And a lot of people are saying this, Mr. Speaker, many people. As a matter of fact, they also believe and acknowledge the Minister of health may mean well but they really feel deeply down inside that the Minister is out of touch. Many people are telling me this, Mr. Speaker, good people, such as the workers, the employees, the staff, Mr. Speaker. But they say to themselves, why isn't the Minister in touch with the primary care health doctors, staffing levels, and their issues. It should be top of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I understand it correctly, the Arctic Council is holding its first Arctic Youth Conference in Tromso, Norway, January 2025. If I understand further, not only it's the first but -- in the sense of this type of initiative, but they've also sought funding from the federal government, although not guaranteed and certainly -- and as such, that brings me to the question to the Minister which is if their application with the federal government fails to send an NWT delegation to the Arctic Council's Youth Conference portion in Tromso, Norway, would the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your long pause on Yellowknife made me worry for a moment. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, during this morning, many of my colleagues had a really I'd certainly say an enormously incredible presentation provided to the committee from the NWT climate youth advisory group. And I want to use just a moment of my time saying they were a fantastic bunch of young people. They were extremely well represented by the Hay River reps, and they spoke well and clear and they had wonderful focus. I think they are truly the promise of tomorrow.

But, Mr. Speaker, when I asked them do they have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's very specific to health care administration. So it's a very technical skill about overseeing hospitals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the -- what I would surely describe as a sincere answer on that question. It's a tough one to say hey, what do you think of dividing your portfolio to two. I think it was a fair answer.

Mr. Speaker, most hospitals or hospital types or authorities are run by people with PhDs, you know, and they come with the credentials of things known as public health administrators. Mr. Speaker, do we have that type of talent in the department of health overseeing the NTHSSA or even the Stanton hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, and it's with respect to sort of a broader view of how to tackle some of the health and social services challenges. And, of course, first I'm concerned about, you know, is health too big? And that's not picking on anyone personally. It's a giant monolith. So.

Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister -- sorry, the Premier hands out portfolios per se, but would it help focus some of the challenges in by separating the portfolios so we could really deal with some of the robust challenges we've been raising and...