Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to make special mention of a family here in my riding of Yellowknife Centre who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. A heartfelt congratulation goes out to Judith and Forrest Krause, who were surrounded by friends and family over the weekend to celebrate this golden occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Krause are long-time northerners, coming to the North for opportunity and excitement and proudly made Yellowknife their home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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However, Mr. Speaker, it is important to point out the executive assistants, some past and present that I think have made an exceptional impact on some of the work that I have been able to succeed with. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make special mention to Katherine Robinson who worked for the honourable Mr. Dent for some time.

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Allen Stanzell, with his keen eye for detail in getting back to me.

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Mr. Doug Pon has worked for Minister McLeod for all the way through.

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They are fine, outstanding individuals. They made the work here so much more successful and rewarding...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer because I see the Minister recognizes how important this is. Mr. Speaker, he says case by case. The one thing I think will help everyone out there who are in the NGOs would be, for example, if the Department of Finance set out rules and guidelines and anyone could work with the individual department. So would the Minister of Finance take upon the work to design some type of framework that an NGO can go to, maybe a website, click download it and help the application process? Therefore, when it goes to the specific department, we’ve already...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 14th Assembly there was a report that recommended multi-year funding and the importance that it would bring to NGO organizations to create stability and a sense of continuity for their funding source. Mr. Speaker, in the 15th Assembly I was able to work with the NWT Seniors’ Society to help get them a multi-year funding agreement, and special recognition goes to then-Minister Miltenberger of the Department of Health. Mr. Speaker, that was a milestone, I’d say, but one that, I think, passed without any thunder and excitement, because it was a big...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the issues I have with this motion which has been included, is my concern that we do not have a policy that states that no appointments, especially serious appointments, where there is no emergency pending or falling before us, that we should not be appointing a position just before an election. Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t want anybody to compromise anybody’s appointment by saying it’s a political appointment to gain favour just before or after an election. So, Mr. Speaker, my concerns and points have been raised in this motion. I will be voting in favour with my...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, as many of us know here, the PUB keeps shooting down the one-rate zone because you can’t operate in isolation. In other words, as the Minister has pointed out, you can’t have one style of power generation here and another there and another there and they come at three different costs. In fact, you can’t harmonize the costs because of the different delivery systems that we have. So, Mr. Speaker, how to deal with this is right before us. We can start harmonizing our power generation by working together. As the Minister said, we can start putting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the Minister of the Power Corporation being the head of the Power Corporation obviously, is it part of their mandate or policy to ensure that we are delivering the most effective, affordable and cheapest power available? I am concerned that the NWT Power Corporation power rates are higher than they are when they are delivered by independent sources such as Northland Utilities. Is it the policy of the NWT Power Corporation to ensure that they are delivering the most affordable power to each home? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to talk today about the need for a power generation and utilization strategy so we tap into our enormous hydro potential. There are a lot of people interested in hydro energy potential that exists in our NWT. The mines need a cheap, clean and abundant supply of energy to power their operations. The people of the NWT need a cheap, clean and reliable source of energy, too. There are a number of potential projects before us. There is a green corridor, the proposed east to west national power grid, and I’m very interested in the potential the NWT can play in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, I guess I look around the room and it’s pretty obvious where the numbers are so I’m going to have to say, first and foremost, I’m going to have to respect the Assembly’s direction on this. There’s no point in debating it at endless length and pleading when the decision has already been made.

Mr. Chair, one of the calls to action when I was in my election campaign in 2003 was to find solutions for the drug and crack problem. A number of people told me face to face that we had to come up with solutions. They were looking for something. If anything, they were...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, four years have passed and I’m very proud of all of our time here. There have been certainly some good days and certainly some bad days, as we all know, but I’ve gained a lot of experience from every one of those challenges that have been put before us and I’d say it’s been an incredible time, an incredible ride, Mr. Speaker.

This exciting time could not have been done without the marriage of this new family we’ve created when we walked through the doors, all 19 Members of us. Some knew each other, some didn’t, but we found a way to make it work. Just...