Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two constituents in the gallery today as mentioned earlier, Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders, both with the Status of Women. This time, too, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to use this opportunity to recognize the Hay River Grade 6 class. I’ve not seen a better behaved or better dressed group of students in a long time. I think that should be recognized. Lastly, I too would like to acknowledge my colleague Daryl Dolynny’s family who are here for the graduation of his son, Tanner Dolynny. By the way, he’s valedictorian this weekend, so congratulations.

Is there any change to the scope, as I was asking just a minute ago? Did it still remain the same? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I heard Mr. Moses’ discussion regarding the Inuvik Airport terminal and how it was being repaired. The contract has been put out. I know the contract has been awarded at least a couple of months ago. I am just wondering the cost of that particular contract on that repair. Let’s start with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will just provide a couple of quick ones. First of all, I see there is no mention about the work being done on Highway No. 4, unless I missed it. I will also say that I don’t notice much being planned. I know this is not a capital budget, but there is no mention of Highway No. 7 at this time either. I think these are two major projects that seem to be put on the backburner. As I realize, this is not a capital budget, but the fact is that these are major initiatives. There is one all left off the table and one is being worked on behind the scenes. You would think that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have one written question today.

Would the Premier please provide a list of all direct appointments made by Cabinet since the beginning of the 17th Assembly? The Premier’s response should specifically note the employing departments and reasons why competitions were not held for positions filled by direct appointment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be speaking on the good merits and reasons why we should be doing more in early childhood education. Early childhood education is a term which refers to the education programs and strategies geared towards children from birth to the age of eight. This time period is widely considered the most vulnerable and certainly the most crucial stages of a young person’s life.

A child’s readiness to begin formal schooling is much more than just academic readiness. It’s a matter of targeting the whole needs of the child. Quite typically you’ll see that a lot of programs...

On that particular repair, has it been finished yet? I didn’t catch that part, the dialogue earlier, but has it been finished yet? Has the scope remained the same from the original tender?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There was just one more thing I had forgotten to mention and I could be mistaken on this particular situation and I have no energy to run upstairs to go research it quickly, but I’m sure I read in the newspaper an advertisement, a position for some type of project officer or manager on the Inuvik-Tuk highway to be posted in Inuvik, and I did think that that was a little advanced in full consideration that the project hasn’t been approved yet.

Again, as I said earlier, I certainly supported the project description and sort of some of the environmental work that needs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement today, clearly there are a lot of examples of how early childhood education can be implemented and certainly it’s a program that can start a phenomenal difference into a young person’s life. If we build that foundation it means a lot.

I say to this McLeod government, don’t just heed the warning from us. I mean, there are many parents and experts that will tell you this is such a critical part for the development of our children and the future of our children in our education system. We all know good education is the backbone of a solid...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge those three wise ladies sitting at the top there. That would be Yvonne Quick, Barb Hood and Sandra Taylor. Most notably, Sandra Taylor, of course, is a constituent of Yellowknife Centre and she’s also the president of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society and she does a great job there.