Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that was one of the best answers I have heard from this Minister in my three years of the Assembly. He is talking about bridging the gap, addressing forced growth problems, cost of living and including the requests. So I guess, all of that said, everything I needed to hear about what it was we are bridging the gap on. So the bottom line is, will wage parity be addressed in this business plan? I can guarantee you, there aren’t many people who are against this problem. Will he address it? Will he tell this House today that he is going to ensure...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I heard a great response there, we put a high value on the work that they do, we rationalize it and support them, and we are working with them. So I guess my question now to the Minister is, how are we going to rationalize, support and respect the high value of service that they offer when there is a $500,000 plus wage parity gap between what their employees as a collective receive and what they should be paid in fair market value throughout other government agencies? How is the Minister going to address this gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we need long-term security because these organizations benefit all our people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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That will be all for now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the GNWT work with Aurora College to deliver a basic interpreter/translator training program for aboriginal languages, as well as specialized training in medical terminology. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s my opinion that buildings are far more than bricks and mortar. They can breathe life into our community and certainly a policy like this will breathe life into the institutions we know as government.

Mr. Speaker, a public art scale of this mass will change the culture and the way we do business and although it looks like a little piece of paper, I think it goes far beyond that. It will define us for generations to come.

From my time being a Member here for the last three years, the Leg is truly an example of doing things right and doing them upfront as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the Minister is dithering over these explanations because there is no intelligent transit system in the Northwest Territories. Again, there is no bike lane system in the Northwest Territories. Is he suggesting now that we are going to start funding bike paths on this transit money? Maybe we should get some clarification from the Minister on his context of what transit system means. I think that is the issue. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be clear on what transit system means, because we seem to mean everything under the sun? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has been well aware, since the initial announcement in June of last year, that this transit money was coming. The Minister is also aware, because he just pointed out, that in November, seven months ago, that the deal was being processed. So now we are talking about March of this year and who knows what else is going to be the next stumbling block. So obviously the Minister is probably glad to see him here to help straighten him up. We have three problems. The first one is Yellowknife has the only transit system; the second is the federal money was...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although mentioned a couple times already, I’d also like to recognize Daryl Dolynny, a well-known community supporter in the city of Yellowknife and he goes a long way to helping a lot of good causes. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be quick. A few years ago I started advocating this problem that constituents of mine had unruly behaviour next to them in the parks and whatnot. There were fires and people cutting down trees, creating trash. While they were out in a lawful way enjoying the use of their property, people were shooting guns at them. It was noted the difficulty of having the RCMP bolt out of the city of Yellowknife to an area about 45 minutes outside of the city and getting there in a timely way. The difficulty, as I saw it, was they weren’t being protected by some type of...