Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Premier’s favourite subjects are devolution, hydro and, definitely, pipeline. So my questions that I’d like to ask today to the Premier are what actions this government will be taking, if any, to prevent Imperial Oil from backing out or postponing the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. Chairman. I guess my opinion on that is a parking ticket may not seem like a service to the person who is getting it, but it is a service to the community, as well as a speeding ticket. That’s a safety issue. I guess it’s a matter of definition. I am in favour of that. Would you define a library charge a service in this regard, because this was mentioned earlier today? I was asking specifically to parking and speeding tickets because there are people who have quite a lot of parking and speeding tickets out there and it makes it difficult for the city to collect on them. There...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am in favour of the amendments that are coming forward today. I will be voting in favour of them, but I do have some questions for ultimate clarity for the public. There is a notice for 30 days, and I had concerns whether that restricted someone’s right over the long term for suing the municipality. If someone slips and falls and didn’t notice the ill effects right away, does the Minister see that this notice of 30 days restricts somebody’s ability to sue for damages or the potential to sue for damages related to some type of slip and fall that they didn’t provide...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are more than 400 people who work in this industry of northern manufacturing and I think it’s important that we take a serious look at that. This manufacturing industry commits over $63 million to our northern economy, and I think it’s more than a laughable number; I think it’s quite a serious number that we have to pay serious attention to. So I believe in my heart that they deserve a lot of respect. So would the Minister seriously consider and maybe commit today to at least look into a logo program, which would only cost pennies, so we can put...

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. Speaker. That wasn’t quite the thought-provoking answer I was looking for.

---Laughter

I will certainly take any answer. He said once the land is turned over to the city by this government. Does he mean that it is the intention of his department to turn over all of the remaining lands in this term of this government to the City of Yellowknife? I just want to get some clarity on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I rise to bring the House's attention to the City's difficulty in getting the land it needs for development.

Yellowknife is a growing city; it needs land for homes, businesses and green space. It shouldn't come as a surprise to the MACA Minister. Although the Premier indicated in June that the government had no requests for residential land from the city before it, I understand now that that was not the case and that there were several applications still outstanding at that time.

I was pleased to hear the MACA Minister has recently made a timely decision on...