Robert Hawkins

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly is committed to ensuring that the Budget Review Process is publicly accessible, transparent to all residents and efficient;

AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly has chosen to make revisions to the Estimates and Appropriation Bill Review Process;

NOW THEREFORE I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that the Rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended by rescinding Rule 76 and substituting the following:

ESTIMATES AND APPROPRIATION BILLS

76(1) The Assembly may not adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address or bill for the appropriation of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, October 8, 2008, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended by rescinding Rule 76 and substituting the following:

The Assembly may not adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address or bill for the appropriation of public revenue except for a purpose recommended to the Assembly by the Commissioner in the session in which the vote, resolution, address or bill is proposed.

Rule 76(1) relates only to the appropriation and...

I’m aware of the many journeymen and women that Chef Pierre has at his business downtown. It could become the new Red Seal training program for trades cooking. They have many tickets under their belt, and they’re able to train under many aspects of cooking.

It’s good to hear that the accreditation is being worked through. What else is holding this back, or when can we expect a big announcement from the Minister that we’re able to move forward on this initiative?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement today I talked about the issue of elevating our trades program. I highlighted the issue that we have a perfectly good facility here in this community that could raise the standard from just regular cook to a Red Seal tradesperson. I am wondering what the Education Minister has to say about that here today. I have taken him down to that facility in person on a tour, and I know he liked it. I would like to know what the Minister has done since the last time I took him on a tour to help raise and elevate this type of program in the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, I like how the Minister coins “market forces at play,” and I’m always interested in how market forces seem to be at play when you don’t get new fuel supply. The iceroad is not working; the ferry is not working, but those little fix-it things flapping around with the new price, and higher and higher and higher — that’s all market force? I think market force at play is called competition, not gouging.

Can this Minister today commit to putting something on the table right now that proves we’re protecting the consumer and we are showing that the consumers are not being protected and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to refer my questions back to my Member’s statement today, when I talked about regulation of our fuels here in the Northwest Territories. My questions will be directed to the Minister of Finance, who had asked me earlier to give him a reprieve on cost of living and tax questions. So my questions will be focused on fuel regulation.

This fuel regulation is something that will help balance the equation where fuel prices are high and consumer protection is low. I’d like to know what this Minister of Finance is doing to make sure we can bring fuel regulation to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, it’s funny. I keep hearing about this business planning process. It’s almost the same excuse I give my kids when they say: Daddy, buy me this; buy me this. I say: wait till Christmas; wait till Christmas. Everything from this side of the Cabinet is: oh, don’t worry; wait for the business planning process; it will take care of everything. I cannot wait for the business planning process. We are going to be so busy.

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister is too nervous or unwilling to say, “No, I don’t know what to say,” would he give us a clear answer and tell us and show...

Mr. Speaker, there are also other places — Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Quebec — that do this. I would look to the Minister and ask him where he is putting protection again. Is he putting it in the hands of protecting the producer, or is he going to look at finally putting it in the hands of the consumers?

You know, the choice is very clear. We can create consumer confidence, and that’s our job, here, to do this. So I ask the Minister again: will he review this file and take a look at the situation? If we do one single thing for protecting consumers, that’s the best thing we can do on this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Northerners are reeling from the increased costs of gas, diesel and home heating fuel and are fearful for what this winter will bring. Not only does it cost more to put gas in our vehicles and to heat our homes, but these sky rocketing fuel prices are affecting and impacting the everyday cost of living of all Northerners. As a result of these high fuel prices, we are living with increases in electricity, food and other goods and services.

The bottom line is that this government needs to stand up for Northerners and protect them by introducing regulations that monitor and...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Finance Minister for his creative way of describing my oral question back in June. Quite interestingly enough, I don’t think Michael Moore could have painted it more creatively. The fact is that I was asking about what we are doing to make up that $15 million loss in corporate taxes and how come we are not considering raising the sin taxes in balancing the fact that we are cutting and firing employees.

So to put it in context — my question to the Finance Minister is again almost similar to the question in June: what are we doing to expand the growth of our...