Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions will be for the Minister of ITI, and it’s in regards to a "buy northern" program. This government spends a lot of money on northern-based industries to support them, and I applaud them for such efforts. They put a lot of efforts into the arts and crafts and even the secondary diamond industry. Even the local Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, to their specific credit, promotes "buy local" to help support local businesses that continue to give back to the communities. So when I look at northern manufacturers, I think of such companies as Arctic Wild...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the answer by the Minister. So a person can still sue if that’s the appropriate mechanism.

My next question is regarding the transferring of unpaid services to property taxes. It was I who asked if parking tickets would apply. The other day it was okay and today it isn’t. The Minister had said it’s only applicable to services. Could I get the definition of how the Minister sees what services are? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister, because a little logo program doesn’t need a lot of administration and a long time research, so I look forward to his response on that when he gets back to me. Would he also look towards making a web site? B.C. has a “Made in B.C.” program and apparently it’s hugely accepted and seen as a special launch to promote B.C. manufactured products. Would he look at creating or maybe implementing something similar to the B.C. “Made in B.C.” program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the honourable Member for mentioning that we don’t have a strategy. That’s something I’d like to see us work on and maybe see if we can get a commitment from the Minister, in the long run, to do that. But I don’t think a northern strategy necessarily has to be where we have to start. It could be where we’re going. I believe very strongly that the northern manufacturers need to be supported and this government needs to get behind them. I’ll speak to something that’s probably near and dear to the Speaker’s heart, which is that I bought windows from Arctic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will we still have a piecemeal process going on? I compliment the Minister on allowing a transfer to go through just in September that gave the city access to three parcels of land. We further pushed back the rest of the lands for a decision to be made in January. Regardless of what is going to happen in January, is the Minister prepared to act on the remaining outstanding applications that the City of Yellowknife has for lands and stop holding the city hostage? They need to continue to develop lands for houses and businesses, et cetera. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I promised earlier, I do have my thought-provoking questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, status quo has truly become the norm. The one-year land lease-only policy is probably up to 16 years of life. The roadblocks for the City of Yellowknife are still being put in front of them because they need land to develop in a reasonable way. They try to work with the Yellowknives. Will the Minister provide an update on the status of discussions between himself and the Yellowknives Dene on how the City’s land requests are coming...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight met on October 11, 2005, to review Bill 6, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2005. This act makes minor amendments to a number of statutes. Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 6 as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 6. Individual Members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the goals are important factors to judge against, but unfortunately those goals were measured two years ago when oil was at 30-some dollars a barrel. It was $64 a barrel yesterday. So recognizing times have changed and contracts need to be adjusted to reflect those things, it’s important. I take this as a serious enough issue that we should be involved in what are some of the criteria that these DMs are being judged against so they get their bonuses, because I’d like to see this government reward good behaviour and not reward less good...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Premier, also known as the Maytag repairman, be willing to make these requirements and management criteria available to all Members of this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one wants to circumvent the process for the Yellowknives Dene in the land that is rightly theirs. But, Mr. Speaker, consultation needs to come to a close eventually. So if there is still a process that has reached no further results due to the negotiations on land selection, what is the Minister going to do? Is he going to finally agree to turn over those lands in January that the city has had out on request for quite a long time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.