Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, the Minister knows this is nothing. He could have come a year… It took a year to get any response from him. A couple of days ago, he then all of a sudden broaches the idea of, oh my goodness, I’m surprised… Mr. Speaker, I quote the paper, “Lately it seems things are getting a little rougher around here than they’ve been.” Again, I ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, other than doing nothing, put something on the table that he’s truly done to improve the lives of Northerners, or get out of Cabinet because you don’t belong there.

As I said a moment ago, this Minister committed in this House to provide social workers to help in partnership with the RCMP. The RCMP wanted it, the Minister agreed with it, I went upstairs to his office and talked to him and he thought it was a fantastic idea. Little to anyone’s knowledge, the mandarins behind the scenes all made these decisions that nothing would happen and the Minister was fine with this. What happened to that promise he made publicly here? Look at the streets today in this city. What has he done to improve this city and the health of Northerners? I would like to know.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve all been hearing loud and clear about the problems in the city over this past summer. These are problems, destructive problems of violent behaviour that has been reaching and affecting all people from across the city from tip to tip.

When in a civil society did we call this normal? When do we consider this acceptable? I assert to you it is not normal, but the calls of action I think have been over shone by the calls of status quo.

Politicians have been called to lead, but in my view, they seem to rather be led. Politicians are expected to act, but all I hear from...

Mr. Chairman, I move that we report progress.

---Carried

It reminds me of a joke my kid would say, is why did the buffalo cross the bridge.

---Laughter

Obviously, to get to the other side.

But in all seriousness, how much will this cost now to fix this new remedy or new hole we’re finding out in the Deh Cho Bridge process and system? How much more money is required now to keep the buffalo from jumping from the side onto the bridge, and what remedy does the Department of Transportation have in its pocketbook of plays to deal with a buffalo in the middle of the bridge while people are coming over it and while they have no choice? Something is going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use today’s opportunity for question period maybe to probe into the workings of buffalo gates on the Deh Cho Bridge. It’s come to our attention through the media, but oddly enough, I’ve been hearing about the urban legend of buffalo crossing the bridge at Fort Providence, but I have yet to actually see the facts before us.

I’d like to start off by asking the Minister of Transportation how much did the buffalo gates cost and how much will it cost to fix them or repair them so the buffalo aren’t roaming up on that bridge. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m really glad to hear what the Minister had to say, but he avoided my last question, which is simply: What is going to happen if there’s a buffalo on the bridge and somebody comes along and goes over the hump of the bridge and all of a sudden sees a buffalo? The buffalo has nowhere to go but on the side or jump over. Potentially someone could hit the buffalo; there’s nowhere to swerve. I mean, we know how narrow that bridge is. So the question essentially is: Is public safety being compromised with this failed solution to keep the buffalo off the bridge?

Thank you. Well, I guess the next question is: How does the Minister know they can’t cross the Texas gates? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There were a terrible lot of lies going around the world about fracking and the worst thing of all is some of them are true. The fact is, we don’t know what the truth is about fracking until we have done our research. The GNWT and Members on this side of the House continue to go down this path and this narrative of fracking.

Is fracking right for the Northwest Territories? Yesterday I tried to articulate some of the concerns that need to be looked at if our government chooses to travel down this journey, down this path to resource riches, as we have described it. Yes, I...

Thank you. I would first like to give credit to Mr. Bromley, who has brought this issue up here today. This isn’t his first occasion, nor should I miss the point of people like yourself, Mr. Chairman, Ms. Bisaro and there are many other MLAs of course who have brought up the need for J.H. Sissons to be brought up to date. When it comes to the quality of school, the facility needs desperate attention. It’s been brought up in committee many, many times. It’s been brought up for many years. I think we could speak at length to types of renovations that are necessary, but really it’s gone beyond...