Robert Hawkins

In speaking to two of the three invited contractors as well as speaking to a number of people in the construction industry here locally, they have all estimated that renovating the hospital while it is in full operation could run anywhere in the range of 20 to 30 percent more than what the project should cost.

These are estimates now, granted I know that, but why is this government so fixated on renovating a hospital that it costs us so much more than just building a new additional wing to it? The fact is that is the truth of the reality, we are going to spend a lot more than necessary. Why is...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wasn’t sure if the Minister was going to provide that in writing or not. He said if the committee wants that. This is very unusual, in my experience, that we now need the whole committee of the Assembly to request information. Is that the position of the Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about the Stanton Territorial Project that’s coming before us. It’s not an issue of the merits of the renovations, I think those are well-articulated out there how important this facility, this hospital is to the Northerners and we need to make sure it’s kept up to speed and certainly up to date and able to provide the needed services. The issue really comes down to this, and it’s about the money, how we renovate.

So I’m going to ask the Minister of Public Works these questions, which first off is: Why is the path of Public Works...

Would the Minister be able to epistolize that?

I would ask the Minister, could he elaborate a little more, such as some of the details that they keep?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe I will reword the questions, just so it is clearly asked and can be clearly answered. At this present moment, the Department of Human Resources issued a snapshot which I know they do on a regular basis. How many vacancies in the public service would be recognized in that snapshot? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour to recognize constituents in this House, as every Member enjoys. I would like to recognize Pertice Moffat, who is a constituent of Yellowknife Centre. I would also like to first say thanks to the Status of Women Council for the excellent initiative that they launched. I often have said to get more women elected, you have to get them to campaign and this is exactly what it’s doing, getting people out there and giving them the right tools. So, specifically, Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders are constituents of Yellowknife Centre.

Finally, I want to...

One of the particular problems I’ve noted is that power, in my view and the view of many others, by the way, including the mayor of Hay River, Andrew Cassidy, is power, in our opinion, should be delivered a lot cheaper than it is.

Competition could be argued as a good thing for everything, but maybe not, as well, but the argument I usually see is competition is good. So the question for the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation is: In their capacity as an organization, why have they not bid to provide the distribution services in these types of communities that do have franchise agreements in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know that the trappings of progress may be marching forward in a way that not only are helping us but on some days they put us in peril. You’ve often heard the peril argument from Mr. Bromley, but that’s not what I’m here to describe.

The benefits of progress sometimes provide us the opportunities such as power and being able to turn your lights on and the great opportunities that they create.

My question for the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation is: Can he explain in simple terms how power can be supplied to a particular community in single digits, such as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is never too late for this McLeod government to be reminded about what is truly important. Even when they pay little attention to whatever advice Regular Members offer to share, I continue, once again, to feel the need to remind this government about the great crisis of our time.

The crisis I speak of is affordability. It’s known by many names, all of equal value, but whatever name you choose to use, it is always the same problem to the same families.

If you can’t afford to live, there are very few – ridiculously few – options for people to turn towards. The cost of...