Robert Hawkins

I appreciate the Minister’s answer. As I’ve highlighted a few times in this House this term and certainly the last term, my concern about red tape and a red-tape bureaucracy, and B.C. has a red-tape Minister. If they bring in a new regulation, they have to take away two. The point being is they don’t want to continue burdening industry as well as the everyday person with more rules and unnecessary regulations.

The Minister had said this is a draft and I’ll accept his statement that it is a draft. My concern is the draft will roll into this is the way it will be before costing out these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the WSCC regulations and the concerns that the regulations won’t take into consideration the feelings and worries of industry, both small and medium. As I highlighted continually, that small and medium industry certainly is our breadbasket in our economy and if we don’t do everything we can to keep them competitive, it makes it very challenging for them to keep up and running.

My question to the Minister is: I understand that the WSCC has extended its feedback deadline, which certainly has been received positively. However...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The point I am trying to get at, and I am sure the Minister understands this, is the fact that public safety is at risk out there. There is a leap of faith people are taking when they go to these places, that they are insured at one level or not that they are protected as well as they are regulated. What I am asking the Minister is: Is there perhaps, maybe a discussion paper that could come forward that we could work on and develop to see what type of priority fits with the ambition of this government and this term as well as the ambition of the next government going...

Mr. Speaker, each profession can speak about the importance of their legislative requirements and regulations on how important they may or may not be over, certainly, other ones, but I can assure you that there is a concern about health and safety. If one can only imagine that if they’re laying on a chiropractor’s table and someone’s twisting their neck, what type of rules, education and authority have they played to ensure that they’re safe at that particular time.

Mr. Speaker, the point I’m getting at is there’s a health and safety issue on both issues, massage as well as chiropractic, that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, sort of just to narrow it down a little further to help clarify the confusion out there, I’d like to highlight again my concern, because it does seem insulting to many of the parties that are involved here in a very offensive type of way that it is now out there and the public are running around. It’s an open negotiation and it really shouldn’t be.

The reality here is, it’s there and we have to sort of deal with it. The question really comes down to is a plain language document one of the options that the Premier could conceivably be working on when he says there’s things they could look...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to highlight on-line petitions in my Member’s statement.

I am very pleased that the Legislative Assembly will soon be accepting on-line petitions here. It’s a new form of democracy being created right before our eyes, and I intend to promote this option to all the residents of Yellowknife Centre as well as throughout the North to all our northern constituents. I certainly hope Northerners will consider using this site to submit their petitions and make sure their voice is heard in this Assembly.

I was in favour of this direction from the start of our...

The only ones that seem to have respect for the process are the Members around this room. I’ve listened to my colleagues very cautiously and asked questions about this, and it’s a shame the agreement is out there. Does the Premier think he could maybe address the situation by the upcoming deadline when they’re looking for feedback from the aboriginal organizations that perhaps at that stage with their agreement? I stress that it is a partnership, as he’s well aware. Perhaps with the parties all in agreement they could work together with the plain language. Although technically it’s a bilateral...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to weigh in on the devolution issue that’s been raised by a number of my colleagues here today.

Firstly I’ll say it’s a real shame that it is now posted on the CBC website. I think that’s caused real ripples out there in the community. That being said, some of the aboriginal groups aren’t necessarily pleased. I know I had people looking at it and they’re concerned. People are wondering if it’s the real true document. It’s kind of like negotiating in public here. It’s really the future of the Northwest Territories and I think it’s a real shame that this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Anything that moves this forward even by an inch is a success, in my view. I want to get people into this treatment. Again, we’ll call it research, if that’s all we want to describe it as, although I know very well that it’s being used as real treatment for a lot of people.

As I said earlier, we have MS patients in my riding who would like to be part of this process. Is the Minister willing to get out there and reach out to the MS community to start finding out if there are people who would be willing to join the research, who would want to be involved in the...