Robert Hawkins

Mr. Chairman, we are getting a little closer than before. I guess that’s progress.

So, who owns the iPad? Who controls the content of the iPad? Who maintains them and are they disposable? In other words, once we give them, we don’t see them back? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This problem is quite simple to me. I boil it down to this little piece. The question is to iPad or not to iPad. Whether it is noble to suffer without an iPad or to slings and arrows without rages fortunate against those who cannot afford it – that darned iPad – or to take arms against those trying to offer those iPads, and in the end, as we oppose them as we go to sleep, there will be no iPads for any children or any family.

It’s quite simple. The challenge before us is do we support the iPads to get in the hands of the young people and the parents and provide the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Population is in decline. The cost of living is up. The Minister says we’ve hired 217 summer students. I bet there are at least 800 in total that have been looking for work, so we’re lucky to even get 25 percent of the students hired. The bottom line is I want to know how many job positions are open and how we’re getting them filled. This government has repeatedly said they had 571 jobs they were actively looking for a few months ago. We’ve got, at best, in the range of 800 students, probably almost 600 looking for job. When you go to the website, there are only 102 job...

Well, I fail to fully understand why we go to a specialized marketing company and spend $795 to self-nominate, and when I actually called them they told me they couldn’t tell me who competes for these awards because that’s proprietary information. Ultimately, that’s what they said, and they can’t tell me about how it’s evaluated at the end of the day. It almost seems like it’s self-gratification designed.

By the way, let me be the first to announce, I’m creating a Yellowknife Centre MLA award. I won’t tell you who can apply, and it will be in 2014. It’s just as simple as that. Obviously, that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, in essence… I mean, I’m happy to provide the name and I’ll do that, like I said, once I’m done here in this process. But, frankly, once we pass it, what’s the point of giving the name to the Minister if we can’t pursue it? I guess that’s what I’m getting at, is should we pause on a certain section without identifying anybody in particular? I’m just trying to get a sense, because I think I just stated that once its forgiven it’s forgiven, there’s nothing to pursue at that point. So I’m just sort of lost on the process here, and I think that it’s a fair question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to once again recognize Hannah Allan. She’s a Page here from Yellowknife Centre. She’s just over there on the side. I recognized her last week, but I believe she was on duty somewhere else. I’d like her to take a moment so she can stand up and be recognized and thank her for her duties here. Also, I may remind her, many Pages have become MLAs and even Clerks in this Assembly, so you never know where you can end up. Thank you.

I guess, by what method or measure shall I pursue this matter if I see someone on the list who is alive, who has rental arrears under this act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m always entertained by growing up stories by Member Dolynny. They’re quite entertaining by all means.

I think the real fundamental problem here, and I think Member Dolynny touched upon it, is about the rules here, and certainly the roles and responsibilities are the issues. Frankly, I welcome sponsorship and we just have to have it under what we believe is our choice and our guidelines, and I think, fundamentally, that’s the problem here. Some of us are accepting things for the unknown.

If we did not consider this opportunity, which is one, you know, I think it would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this whole issue really boils down to something very simple as saying this: We don’t want to cause any further strain to this family’s economic situation, and furthermore, we don’t want to provide any extensive financial hardships to the person who has volunteered or, in some cases, doesn’t really have a choice. They have to go as the medical escort. If you weigh and balance the great strain being a medical escort can cause – and I’m talking about the pocketbook or the financial hardship that can be created by this situation – it causes one to say, well, we don...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re getting somewhere on this file and I want to be very clear. Will the Minister send proper professionals with appropriate credentials to go and assess those particular units, not send some secretary in there to walk out or some administrative assistant to walk in there, count heads, count bodies, whatever the case may be to say is your unit well. I want competent professionals that can go in there, assess them properly, develop a plan with the community and show them that the housing issues matter to them. Because right now I’m getting calls that there’s an oil...