Robert Hawkins

It may be difficult to answer today, but I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing some creativity from the Premier on this particular issue. How do you think we could get the commitments made by the national parties out there to our northern citizens? I want to make sure that they earn the seat of Western Arctic. I don’t want anybody to get an easy ride and realize that the Government of the Northwest Territories is standing by supporting either one candidate and not another or, of course, making sure that the people have a full digest as to the commitments people are willing to make from a national...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about past efforts to get northern issues on the table for discussion and certainly commitments during federal campaigns. In the past, former-Premier Handley has done this as well as, I’d like to note, even Premier Roland during the last election followed suit on the particular issue of raising questions to get responses from both candidates who are striving for that much coveted seat of Western Arctic and of course getting it from the national parties.

My question for the Premier is: does he intend to follow this particular...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, has announced that the federal budget will be tabled on March 22nd and accordingly there is a great deal of speculation about what the budget may contain and whether the opposition will support it in the end. As the budget is a confidence vote, then, clearly, if not one of the opposition parties support it, the government will fall and there will be an election this coming May.

As far back as 2004 I have spoken in the House about the importance of the Premier providing the Western Arctic candidates for the Member of Parliament...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to define the Western Arctic seat is a much coveted seat by all the parties in their desperation to get a majority. I wouldn’t want to give them an easy ride and assume that it will go one way or the other, I think they should fight hard and earn that seat, Mr. Speaker.

I guess my last question to the Premier would be: would the Premier see either good value of the territorial government publicizing all answers provided by national parties on northern particular issues as they respond to questions from this government about how they plan to commit and...

That’s the exact type of answer I’m certainly looking for and certainly constituents of mine. Recognizing that the Assembly is a non-partisan Assembly, it makes it very difficult to support one party over the other.

Would the Premier have any specific plans on how to articulate the answers provided by both the national parties and the individual candidates to make sure that, first of all, our questions are out there and certainly that the answers are meeting the needs of Northerners? That’s part of the issue out there, is people want to know what the national parties will bring to the table to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It makes me very proud to use the opportunity to recognize two of our youngest guests we have in the gallery today, my sons, McKinley Hawkins and his younger brother, Hudson Hawkins. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister seems to be quite well on top of this particular issue and it’s good to see. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister, finally, on a particular issue, be willing to commit to provide me a summary of the work that’s been done to date? I have a number of interested constituents on this particular matter and I want to assure them that the work is being done, as well as I want to see what work is being done from my own point of view to help support the department if that’s the direction that they end up going, as this is an important issue for the City of Yellowknife as...

Clearly, with that great answer you can tell that the Minister is obviously having a very good birthday, because that was a very good answer.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to continue in the same positive vein in the sense of the answer he provided. He is correct; back in 2000, actually it was groups like the Hotel Association that were completely against these types of things, as well as others, but just to name one in this particular case. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister be willing to commit to doing a review on this particular initiative that is being jointly proposed by individual municipalities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to speak to the matter of a hotel tax again, as I did a few days ago in my Member’s statement.

The concept of implementing a territorial hotel tax was first proposed back in 2000 and has been raised in many forms ever since. Mr. Speaker, even in October of last year it was once again raised and supported in the discussions hosted by the Finance Minister‘s revenue consultation. In early 2010 even the NWT Association of Communities passed a resolution asking the GNWT to grant municipal authority over the hotel tax issue. As many will recall, even a motion...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve known most of the Leishman family most of my life; actually and I grew up with many of them, including Allisdair.

I could not put into words in any way the feelings and emotions that the Leishman family are going through in this particular case, nor will I try. This is quite a powerful experience that they’re going through and let us try to imagine in a way how horribly this has changed their whole life forever.

Allisdair, I remember him well playing hockey and I still envision him with the smile and excitement and jest he’s had. He’s was a great guy. I knew his...