Robert Hawkins

In dealing with one specific family, in fact it is not just about one family, many families struggle with the same problem, which is the justice system recognizes that people with mental illness, this really shouldn’t be the first stop, but unfortunately it is one of the processes that just happens to happen. In cases – and this is the only example that I will give – where the family is helpless because the justice system says that unless they do something to themselves or others, they can’t do anything. The Department of Health sits there and says unless they do something to themselves or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about some concerns with the Mental Health Act. As the Minister knows quite well, the Mental Health Act was originated back in 1988 and it has a lot of particular issues, but I know the department is certainly looking forward to updating the act in a current way.

So maybe let’s start with that, because frankly, I have been dealing with families that have been struggling with the archaic act as it is written today and they are looking for some inspiration and certainly some hope as to what processes will be engaged and how soon we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just briefly I want to speak to the principle of the bill. The Residential Tenancies Act, sorry, my apologies.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mental illness has had such a negative and unfair stigma. Those people facing these challenges are often facing burdens well beyond their individual ability to carry these struggles. They face illnesses of different types that many of us often shy away from. We must support them in their struggle. Many people who struggle with mental illness also face additional challenges such as the struggle with addictions as well as their challenges with the law.

Folks like this who struggle through this don’t necessarily do it alone but they do it through the process of being...

Would the Minister be willing to entertain this type of discussion that we could have our deputy minister, who is very well liked and very well respected in our community… That is Deputy Minister Ernie Campbell. He is a great guy, he communicates well with people and people like him. He could host an evening here with the Minister and ask people what they thought on these types of services, how did it work and what was their vantage point. We have lots of trappers, cabin owners and other people who use the land regularly and they saw different things that all could be a benefit of the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday MLA Dolynny talked about the resources of the firefighting season that we have just gone through. I’ve been speaking to a number of people about the recent fire season and I think what it really boils down to, a really good question that came over the weekend was: What type of public discussion will ENR be providing the public to come and talk to them?

A good public discussion could provide both education and understanding about the challenges that ENR had this summer and, as such, could go a long ways to going forward in the future.

Would the Minister be...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister knows that this department has controlled the superintendents to stay silent on particular issues. This just reaffirms the reporting line by now being known that the person from whom they receive their paycheque, they have to further take direction from the department. This is a major issue; it has been recently a major issue; and frankly, I don’t see this getting any easier.

I say that we can confuse the issue by dangling the carrot of money in front of people and saying, well geez, it’s a money issue. But it’s not necessarily a money issue. It’s a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was certainly, and still have been, a supporter of the Mackenzie Gas Project, but that’s actually gas. It’s not the heavy bitumen provided by the Alberta economy that they want to get, which is stranded. I recognize what the Premier says, they have stranded resources, we have resources. I fully understand that point, but gas is not the same as the heavy bitumen that’s out of Alberta. Other regions are refusing it and it causes the question, do we want to take on this environmental burden in some process? We should be putting this question upfront before too much...

I appreciate the history lesson for the Premier about how Alberta and Saskatchewan came about, although I happen to already know that, just so you know, but I appreciate that all the same. But that said, energy is a very big topic, as we all know, and that’s kind of what some of us are talking about here today.

I’d like to maybe drill down just a little bit as to what type of energy cooperation relationship is the Premier talking about developing with the province of Alberta with the Northwest Territories. I think this is an important topic and we need to be talking about it, how in some ways...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I’d like to recognize Deneze Nakehk'o. I’ve known him a long time and it’s always great to see him. I certainly know his family very well and have great respect for them.

Mr. Speaker, I want to use the occasion to acknowledge our esteemed guest there, Dr. David Suzuki. In a funny way, many Canadians feel like we know him personally. As a small child growing up in Fort Simpson, I remember being sent to bed. But on Wednesday nights when I didn’t go to bed, I would turn my little black and white TV on and I’d have my little string earpiece so my parents didn’t know I...