Robert Hawkins

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. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, as I was trying to say, every smart man always makes special mention of his wife, because she is certainly the backbone of everything. To my two sons, McKinley and Hudson, although I won’t be seeing you much for the next six weeks, I will still be thinking of you every day.

To all the Members here, thank you for your support. To all the constituents of Yellowknife Centre, thank you for your support, and good luck to everyone. It has been an exciting roller coaster working with everyone. I am sure I will see everyone back except...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to close today’s 15th Assembly statement by the same way I came into the Assembly almost four years ago. I have some special thank yous and acknowledgements. Mr. Speaker, although we all mention several times we can never mention everyone, there are certain people that I think that I am going to take the risk and highlight their performance. Mr. Speaker, the Members’ secretary, Verna Currimbhoy, has been an incredible support. She has always been there to help every one of us; that is the Regular Members, Mr. Speaker. She works diligently and always...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I understand it, a lot of this work is sort of already done. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out what we are actually doing with this information. Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward on the Taltson project. I would like to find out how we are lowering our power rates for northerners. Are we going to eventually hook up the Taltson power through Yellowknife and possibly go through east to west and hook up some of our South Slave communities? Are we working towards this? Cheaper power is before us. The opportunity is before us. So with the information...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement, I talked about my concern about how we are delivering power to our people in the North. I think that we need a clear strategy of where we are going to make sure we are delivering the best product to everyone. On top of that, I think we need to look forward and catch on to opportunities before us throughout Canada so we can harness our great potential here in the North. My questions, Mr. Speaker, are to the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation. So, Mr. Speaker, does the government have plans to develop a power generation and...