Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I guess that’s kind of what I’m asking, is would the Minister be willing to apply himself and certainly the department to examining the scope of this particular problem? Banting gave his gift to the world with insulin. We could be giving our gift to the world by protecting them from the arsenic trioxide that could poison the world. All we need is a little bit of initiative and foresight on this problem not to see it as a short gain but as a long gain for environmental stewardship, and that’s what I’m asking the Minister.

Would he be willing to at least look at the...

I don’t think the $10 million prize is actually the problem. I think that’s something we could engage the federal government in, because as we all know, AANDC pays that $1.9 million for care and maintenance, again, for in perpetuity, so it’s not just my lifetime, it’s everybody’s lifetime, forever.

Would the Minister be willing to take this project on with an eye of what’s best for the Northwest Territories and propose it to the federal government through AANDC and ask them that if we could maybe run the logistical administrative side of reaching out to the world on this particular problem...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister familiar enough with the legislation to find out if it’s all in regulations? In other words, can we make changes easily through the regulations, or is it through legislative initiative we’d have to tackle some of these particular problems? For the everyday folk there’s a real big difference in timing and efforts to change these types of rules and, as such, I look to the Minister to ask, what’s the easiest way to make these changes if appropriate and certainly where appropriate? Thank you.

In the interim… Well, first I should say thank you to the Minister for recognizing that the program needs to be reviewed and updated, where appropriate, of course. In the interim, many good retailers are providing paper bags which are compostable and certainly biodegradable bags which are still meeting our objective, which is getting plastic bags out of the environment.

Is there anything that the Minister can do today or commit to in the near future that we can stop having these retailers have to charge the same 25 cents as if it’s a regular plastic bag that does not break down in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Single Use Retail Bag Program has recently had its fifth birthday. It was originally rolled out into stores in 2010 and had its last update in February 2011.

Many of us have come to know and appreciate the fact that the single use bag is being charged at 25 cents per use. That’s on paper, plastic, biodegradable and, certainly, compostable bags.

I’m on record many times supporting responsible environmental initiatives and I certainly support the principle of this retail bag initiative, but we must always be practical in our design. There are notable exemptions. As we...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to touch on a few subjects, a little bit of repeat from my other colleagues, but I do think it’s important to further lend strength and emphasize in certain areas. I’ll certainly bounce around here on a few subjects.

One of the issues I’ve raised repeatedly over the years is a seniors charter. I have yet to see any development of it. I had the former Minister express an interest in it, and I certainly hope the department eventually finds time in something like this. We always seem to talk the talk about how important our seniors are, and many of our health...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been raised many times in this House about vacancies and the percentage now. The percentage is a number that moves back and forth, but we’ve agreed that in some form or fashion the government usually has about a 15 percent vacancy. It’s gone down to 13 but it’s gone as high as 16. So if we even take 15 percent, that’s 735 people not staffed at any one particular time in the Government of the Northwest Territories. So as we hire one, we lose one. It’s rote rolling, and to give you an illustration of that figure so I can get to my question, that’s approximately $60...

I would say stand by and we’ll see where that goes.

The next item is a little further on the NWT Child Benefit. Is the Minister able to tell us today how many people actually receive this? Thank you.

Maybe I’ll just pass at this time. I agree it needs to be reconsidered and I would disagree by saying that I believe we have enough time to reconsider something like this. Unfortunately, I can tell you, though, I doubt the will is there. That’s the problem. I share the same concern as Mr. Dolynny. I think analysis needs to be taken into effect into the burden of who should carry the taxes here and who best would put the money into whose pockets. In other words, I think an additional $1,000 in the working family pocket goes a lot further to the economy than it does to the government’s.

Sorry. I just want to make sure. Are we talking about two different things? I’m talking about the cost of living tax credit and I thought I heard him say payroll tax. I just want to make sure we aren’t talking about two different things. Thank you.