Robert Hawkins

Thank you. I am just trying to get a sense of it. Was that a power bill cost or was that how much the person pays or was he referring to kilowatts, 600 kilowatts? If he could explain that a little further as to what the actual person pays. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue, really, the key word here, is to “consider” and what this does is facilitate that type of discussion in a committee. Although laptops and BlackBerries were broken out into two separate, distinct paragraphs here, the intent, as I recall the Rules committee, was to allow us to facilitate this opportunity to have them within that type of committee. Ultimately, the committee itself will have the overbearing position of being able to say, look, this is going to be an allowable device or not. By the Assembly here approving this doesn’t mean that a committee can’t...

Does that have a ceiling amount or is it just six cents no matter how many kilowatts they use? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Board of Management and the Office of the Clerk examine the issues related to:

(a)

the purchase of laptop computers for Members;

(b)

planning and installation and additional infrastructure to support the connections; and

(c)

planning for the changes to operational procedures and websites to support the increased use of e-documents in committees and the Assembly and return with a plan and schedule to develop and implement the changes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a relief that at least people are taking an eye to this concern and maybe it’s not so bad in some areas. I am certainly glad to hear that. What does the department do when it comes to power consumption? I mean, in the context of power bills, do they take a look at those and monitor those and say you have four people in your house, how come…Do they compare that to an average household usage somewhere in the range of 700 to 1,200 kilowatts a month? Do they do that type of analysis? The reason I am asking this is if they are funding public housing and people aren’t...

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister saying that no consultation about this approach was taken in advance to discuss, design, find efficiencies prior to the roll-up decision? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the orders, oral questions. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s so important to recognize everyone here today. It’s difficult to recognize individuals due to the size of the crowd. I’m seeing people from the riding as well as from the Territory that I know. It should not go unnoticed the significant contribution of public display and effort here today. I want to thank everyone for coming. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about this being the wrong approach. I’m reminded by Steven Cubby when he talks about begin with the end in mind. I questioned myself as to what the Minister decided at the very start as to where we’re going on this initiative. Did he decide that he’s going to eliminate all these boards? Or did he decide that he was going to strive for efficiencies? I would say he certainly didn’t get the second one right. I think he strived to eliminate boards and I think that is the wrong process.

He has said on record that there will be no...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for Minister Miltenberger, Minister for refocusing government. I’d like to ask the Minister what meaningful work and consultation has been done with the boards to find efficiencies prior to taking the singular approach of a board roll-up. Thank you.