Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too, like others, would like to first acknowledge the Braden family and thank him for his individual contribution to the Legislature in its day and certainly to the path that all of us have enjoyed. He’s helped us along the way through his wisdom and guidance in his early years as our first Government Leader or, as we refer to them now, as Premier.

I wish we had more time today, but I’d like to recognize just a couple of the Education Hall of Fame winners here today. Dean MacInnis is a constituent of Yellowknife Centre and it’s quite fitting that he’s received the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, once again, seek unanimous consent to return to item 8, oral questions, on the orders of the day.

---Unanimous consent denied

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe we should just get down to the nitty-gritty here. Has the actual RFP been called for by the Town of Hay River, and if so, is the Minister aware when the NWT Power Corporation will be submitting a bid for this particular process? Lastly, on the same point, how long does the cycle for review of this process take? Thank you.

I think, actually, the official record should note it’s probably the 14th Assembly that has that credit from withdrawing from that particular competitive process.

That actually now leads perfectly into my third question, which is: Who directed the NWT Power Corporation to withdraw from fully competing in the competitive process for the Hay River franchise agreement – a tough word to say today – and was it politically motivated or was it done through any other reason, because they withdrew in that day?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use this opportunity to clear some of the air and we’ll call up this ATCO concerned problem about their ads and even some of the innuendos where they’re bemoaning on the street that they’re being muscled out of the Northwest Territories.

Frankly, let’s just put it on the table. I have questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

I want to ask clearly this: Is there any mandate by this Cabinet or certainly this Minister in any way to attempt to run ATCO out of Hay River or the Northwest Territories? We need to clear...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A culture of entitlement is afoot and you can smell it a mile away. You only need to look so far as page 2 in Monday’s newspaper or even page 6 of today’s paper. What you’ll see is a monopoly saying competition is bad. Better yet, let’s make one company, they say, and eliminate all the competition by absorbing them.

Is anyone really fooled by this? I know the public isn’t fooled by this and they want to know who is defending the public’s interest. Because I know, they know, a lobbyist will defend the corporate interest.

Yes, I said a lobbyist, Mr. Speaker. It’s true...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to rise with some objection to the motion that comes forward because I have some concerns on how the development of the rules and the procedures of the Legislative Assembly have emerged.

By and large, 99.9 percent, I support the initiative that has come forward, but I do have an issue with how the section called Point of Order has been evolved and finally found its, I guess I’ll say, end wording.

It’s my view that under Section 25, and I won’t go through the full detail, but it says when a Member is to raise a point of order they shall cite. My view is they...

I’m going to use the opportunity to remind the Minister that he’s in charge of the legislation and he could move the legislative initiative forward. Once again, as the Minister, clearly he’s aware that this is an option here for the Northwest Territories. Clearly, he’s already said there are discussions going on, and frankly, I want to hear what he is willing to do, because I kind of get tired of how we talk about how we can’t do things. I remember the excitement when we all ran into this building and said how we will do things.

What is the Minister willing to do so we can work towards getting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s certainly a pleasure to ask questions here today. Although I did some of my Member’s statement in Chip, my questions will not be in Chip. Although I’m sure Mr. Beaulieu helped me very greatly. I want to give him special credit and thanks for that help.

The question I’m going to be raising here today is in my Member’s statement I talked about the importance of the Social Work Program. In the Northwest Territories we have a two-year diploma program, and in order for a student to seek a degree in this particular program, they have to continue the third and fourth year...

Mr. Speaker, the students have been saying this for years. The instructors at the college have been saying this for years. What will it take from the Minister to finally break through and realize how important this particular option and opportunity is? I’m willing to go get a survey. Does he want 100 names on a petition? Does he want 1,000 names? You tell us what we’ll do and we’ll help him do his job. That’s all I want. Frankly, what does the Minister need from us to help him realize how important this degree program is and we’ll go out and do it. Maybe he can tell us what will make the...