Robert Hawkins

Well, if you want the question, then answer it.

Will you today have the courage to call the Aurora College president and direct an e-mail be publically provided for every single one of those board of governors so they are truly accessible, not hidden in the fray and out of touch?

Mr. Speaker, we continue to waste the public’s time on this by the defence of the status quo by this particular Minister. Section 7.(2)(a) of the Aurora College Act says, “The Minister shall determine the policy respecting the operations, programs and priorities of Aurora College”.

Mr. Speaker, stop sharing the darn concern; direct it – you have the authority, you have the power – and do it in front of everyone here today. That’s it. You could do it today. It is time he actually showed some leadership and just tell the college, you have an e-mail and you are going to be accessible to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is very fitting we actually have wonderful representatives of our college here today, and I’m very proud to see so many of them. So, it’s great.

One of the issues that I’m going to raise, and I’ve continued to raise, it all boils down to one word: accountability. That’s it. Nothing fancier than that, accountability.

I’ve asked the Minister of Education repeatedly about demanding that the Aurora College boards be, guess what, accountable. How so? Accountable by providing an e-mail address so our students can contact them and, at the same time, have a meeting with each...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are so many important issues before us to talk about; however, I feel emotionally compelled to say a few words about the horrific tragedy in Ottawa today. Truly a very difficult day for all Canadians and our Armed Forces who, truly, we are all very proud of. I’m really saddened by the passing of the soldier who was honestly standing up for Canada. This attack wasn’t just on him, it was an attack on all Canadians and I’m confident we will rise in his name again to stand strong.

Anyone I’ve talked to today, without question, has found this an incredibly emotional and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now, followed by my favorite phrase: Who is in charge? According to the Aurora College Act, the Minister may give direction to the board. I am not going through it again. The Minister knows this because I told him repeatedly over the years; I have even told him a couple of times today.

---Interjection

By virtue of inaccessibility, they’re accountable to no one. They’re not even accountable to the Minister. May I use the wonderful occasion to educate the Minister responsible, it’s Section 7 under the Aurora College Act, “The Minister may give direction to the Board respecting exercise of its powers and the performance its duties”.

So, if it’s dutiful and responsible and, guess what, that one word again, “accountable” to its students, it would be accessible to those students, every one of them up there. Frankly, putting all that on one person is baloney, and everybody here knows it.

So, would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wish to recognize the SADD group. I’ll recognize them as a whole and I’ll thank the Minister of Transportation for highlighting them in his Minister’s statement today. They do great work.

I’d also like to recognize one of our distinguished Table Officers, and I’m sorry to say, my favourite Table Officer – sorry, to the present company – yes, it’s you, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford. It’s always great to see you. Although you’re not my constituent, what I’d say is you’re a constituent of every MLA in the North. We all truly dearly love you, sir. Good to see you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we know in the books we’ve had at least 1,100 or more vacancies because of PeopleSoft. The Human Resources Minister has just mentioned, you know, well now we’re maybe talking about 500 or more. Fifteen percent, as I said, is close to 800 job vacancies here in the Northwest Territories.

The fact is, unemployment rates continue to rise and the only thing that brings unemployment rates down is people give up looking for work. Not employment rates have risen; unemployment rates have dropped strictly because they have just given up.

So how do we fix the population...

I didn’t have a chance to write those numbers down, but if we put them together they sound like about 500 jobs.

Why are there only 70 jobs being advertised on our public website? Is this government not interested in hiring people to ensure that they can feed and take care of their families?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off I’d like to join you in recognizing Hunter Tootoo. He’s been a good friend over the years that I’ve gotten to know, and as well, he’s flanked by two women amazingly time has stopped for, Christy Sinclair and Wanda Norwegian. I’ve known them a long time and they look as young as ever. I don’t know how I keep getting older. It’s the truth, though; that’s the problem. Same as Mr. Ramsay there, I too wish to recognize Sean Ivens. He’s a very well-known businessman. We grew up together in Fort Simpson. He spent many years in Hay River and certainly in Yellowknife...