Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recognizing it has been a long day, I will just ask one question and quite quickly to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to TTC. That being said, it may be a little bit of a lengthy one, but it will be fast. Mr. Speaker, I’m trying to understand why this government preaches decentralization, about being fair and equitable and making sure everyone gets a fair shot, but the bottom line is I think the Minister just mentioned Fort Smith has a facility somewhat of a similar nature, and the bottom line is now if we remove the one out of Yellowknife and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am a little concerned that we have to wait until the end of this session; we should be waiting until tomorrow. Will the Deputy Premier be willing to commit to seeing if we could wield some of this high profile information, this high detailed information, because there must have been some business case put forward in order to decide to just move this out of Yellowknife. Would the Deputy Premier be able to bring forward this information tomorrow so we can deal with it in a timely manner, because we only have four days after tomorrow in this session to deal with this?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise with further questions for our friends on the other side of this Assembly. The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is smiling because he knows I can’t ask him any more questions today because the last one was taken as notice.

I have questions for the Deputy Premier of this Assembly, Mr. Floyd Roland, with regard to the TTC that’s being taken out of Yellowknife. The Minister of Health and Social Services had mentioned that there was a facility in Fort Smith. So from the sounds of this, there will be two in the South Slave. Maybe if the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s perspective on that, because it sounds very positive. On a further note, when I was in Japan, I noticed that, speaking to people and I heard from the Japanese people, a presence of Canada and the aurora as a concept has a very low to minimum or, even further, non-existence profile. That is really what I am concerned about. We have an opportunity for a major impact. With all of that being said, would the Minister look at creating maybe a joint working group between industry, Regular MLAs and himself to help maximize our aurora...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being one of the last to recognize visitors in the gallery, I think everyone I had on my list has been recognized, so I will just go through quickly. I have a special recognition to Right Reverend Bishop Sperry, Karen Wright-Fraser, Katherine Youngblut, Ed Jeske, His Worship Gordon Van Tighem, Chief Supreme Court Justice Ted Richard, MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, chief negotiator John B. Zoe and, of course, to everyone else who didn’t get recognized, and Sandy’s mom. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin my statement, I wish to make a special announcement. My second son was born just over a month ago, on NWT Day. His name is Hudson; and if pooping and crying is healthy, he certainly is very healthy. Everyone is fine and I wanted to take this first opportunity to announce that.

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Thank you. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month I was invited by a Yellowknife Centre business to go to Japan and attend some aurora meetings. It was at their suggestion that someone with a political point of view come to see how important the aurora is to the Japanese...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again on the heels of my Member’s statement, I spoke about visiting the Canadian pavilion. It wasn’t my intention to go to the pavilion, but I happened to be in the area so I made the extra effort to pop over for a few minutes and see the enthusiasm about the aurora. What I noticed key was the fact that the enthusiasm was built up to such a peak, then there was no one to send them in a direction of booking tours or acknowledging where to go, other than pointing to a map. Would the Minister take those types of comments and look into and investigate an opportunity...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the heels of my Member’s statement, I would like to pose questions to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. As we all know, the Minister is well educated in Japanese tourism so I don’t have to go into the value and the dollar amounts that they bring to the Northwest Territories. With all of that said, Mr. Speaker, in brief, would the Minister look at the feasibility of creating an NWT office in Tokyo, Japan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While in Japan I took a couple of minutes of spare time to go and see the Canadian pavilion. Mr. Speaker, its main theme was aurora. Everything had the aurora logo on it, from its posters to its little hologram cards that say Experience Canada. Incidentally, the only card they couldn't keep in stock was the one with the aboriginal picture on it. They just flew out the door.

Watching Japanese people captivated by the light show with their personal enthusiasm was amazing. You would watch them filter out of the pavilion saying how can I go to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to say two things. The first thing is I'm very supportive of Bill 17…and I stress, wait for the second. I can't see why we would stop or stall, because I really believe in rights and the acceptance of rights. But I can't say that on one hand, without giving my colleagues the extra couple of months that they have asked for. That's all that they have asked for. The problem is what do we do if it prorogues, and that's exactly it. I need to hear how it's brought back on the paper by someone who is speaking in favour of the delay, how we assure that that can...