Robert Hawkins

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

So if consumption increases then process therefore would increase. I haven’t seen any energy bills get cheaper to use. Who is responsible for any spike in usage? I guess it’s around stewardship. If Public Works and Services has become the department that picks up the bills but say Education runs all their buildings lights on, whatever, it seems like the responsibility is out of touch with those who, they’re not connecting. How do you manage that problem?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Mr. Speaker, my job is to… One of the things is to compliment good work, but at the same time, my job is to point out problems in the system and provide solutions, which I keep providing them but they seem to fall on deaf ears.

So here is one more – and I’m not saying just this Minister; I’m saying many Ministers – would this Minister consider the option of taking a third-party monitoring system by appointing someone to review these so-called Northerners, because he may find that some comply perfectly, which should be supported, and some don’t comply at all. We should be celebrating the good...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in the context of full-cost accounting, and if I may call it an obvious technicality that I’m seeing, why do we charge back on TSC services but we don’t charge back on costs for utilities?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Who is responsible for these specific bills on these energy costs? Which departmental budget do they come from that cover the actual payments?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the question how does the government monitor, manage and validate the numbers presented as what we define as a northern working force. In the socio-economic agreements, it is a very specific description that says the mines must live up to a certain amount of workforce. That said, is the government taking it on blind faith or do they validate this? If they validate this, how do they report it? Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

So it’s determined by the winning vendor in a competitive process. Okay. Is that publicly disclosed in some manner or form?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Would the Minister be able to describe the holdback scheme, how it’s applied to northern contractors and southern contractors, how it’s applied to projects in large communities such as Yellowknife, Inuvik, or Hay River, and furthermore, how would it be proscribed in a manner that it would be in Fort Good Hope or Wekweetì or Lutselk’e? Can you explain the dynamics of that situation?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I want to take a moment to recognize our N.J. Macpherson students here. Ms. Bisaro is quite correct; it’s quite impressive, both their flash mob dancing as well as their behaviour here in the House. She’s quite correct that the way we’re seeing our students behave here today is so impressive, I agree with her that many people could learn quite a few things from the students. That said, this is the generation that is standing up to bullying and I thank them for that, because the line needs to be drawn and they’re certainly showing their support with their pink...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Thank you. And at the same time if he’d provide the breakdown of the pricing information, he doesn’t have to read it here today, but if he could attach that information and I’ll look forward to him saying that he will do that.

At the same time, what does Public Works and Services do for fuel stabilization to avoid rate shock? What is the program or policy that we have? Do we build a bit of – I hate to use the word profit – but do we build a bit of a profit scheme into it to balance that out?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 15)

Is there any reason why we wouldn’t have a position noting the circumstance for an obvious dispute? That’s an easy one to say if there were disputes it may not be easy to fulfill, say within three weeks. Why wouldn’t the Government of the Northwest Territories have a policy to say that the general must pay a contractor within, say, 30 days of fulfilling their obligations met within the contract unless there is a dispute to ensure northern contractors get paid in a timely way?