Robert Hawkins

Mr. Speaker, I heard a long time ago somebody say do or do not; there is no try. So why don't we commit to doing something. We could waive the hours through some form or regulations. It's not as simple as that; I understand that. But that said, we have very smart, capable people. Would the Minister investigate the process opportunity of waiving those hours and restrictions required by the gatekeepers, our northern nursing association, that would allow these people to practice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in late November, I received the letter from the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding my concerns about the licensing of nurses here in the North. And basically, the letter comes back and says status quo is the way we go. My question is is what's stopping the Minister for providing direction to the association saying we're making it part of our funding agreement that we find an easier way to register foreign nurses who are qualified in Ontario, Alberta, but the gatekeeper process here refuses to let them join the service that we're in dire need...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to wave off a second question until the Premier had said the last piece. I was going to concede on maybe his contrition in the sense of he'll communicate better or work better. For the record, Mr. Speaker, we work here too, not just Cabinet, and in theory the Premier's principal secretary should be working with Members and, you know, whatnot. That said, how much is this office going to cost now that he's made this unilateral decision? Because we know how much they're paid because on the -- what's online, the GNWT website. They're paid the highest employee we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two sets of visitors in the gallery today. I'll start with the shorter list but not anywhere less worthy. The NWT Literacy Council is represented by one of my constituents today, Ms. Katie Johnson. She's also an advocate for many other causes which I certainly endorse.

The other group I'd like to recognize is a bevy of ladies, very smart, charming, and hardworking volunteers, and they are as follows: Ms. Martha McLellan, Ms. Sandra Hockes, Ms. Mika Cameron; and, a special thanks goes to Ms. Linda Koe who helped me with my statement today. And I wish to thank each...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I heard an opening with potentially a couple Members who are trying to decide which way to go, and I think I can help clarify or aid in their final-final decision. So maybe if someone's leaning towards a yes but sitting on the no side, hopefully this will do it, or someone looking for the reason why it was sort of filtered or created this way, I'm hoping I can do that.

I just want to respond to a couple things. You know, Cabinet's surprised by this motion. I assure you everybody on this House was surprised by this initiative in general, how it was cut. So I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'd like to move a motion. I move that $5,250,000 be deleted from the 2025-2026 Main Estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'll speak to it at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess to my question again, would the Minister be willing to take on some type of evaluation to see if we can get more tradespeople -- sorry, more apprentices into the trades by adjusting or meeting further needs of the employers who end up spending a lot of money and time and energy that they can't get as a return by constantly mentoring. And that's the key to the program, obviously, but it's a financial loss for them for the first two years to get ahead. So I'm asking can she -- would she commit to reviewing this and doing some analysis to see if we can...

All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and it's regarding the trade and occupation wage subsidy program.

Mr. Speaker, employers who -- tradespeople, that is, can hire trades apprentice up to 3200 hours, and they can help through a subsidy program for a max of $9 per hour, I believe for a male apprentice, and up to $16 an hour for a female apprentice. All excellent. My question starts with when was the last time this program subsidy has been reviewed, if the Minister is aware of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Why don't we start with the objective of saying yes, we will find a way as opposed to no we can't do this. Mr. Speaker, Alberta finds a way. Ontario find a way. And even in BC, they have a check-in process where they monitor someone's international skills to ensure they're on pair -- on par, sorry. That said, we can make all the excuses in the world why we can't do something. Let's try an unusual one by saying how we are going to commit to doing something. So, Mr. Speaker, I prefer local nurses here. Would the Minister say or find a way to find a solution to this and...

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier assure this House that there will be no office setup costs, there will be no staff costs, there will be (audio) sorry, the light went off. Maybe on the government too some days.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier assure that there will be no additional costs to setting up an office because if we're setting up a special envoy that we will now be referring to his excellence or something or other, I mean, are we -- what is this going to cost the Assembly? Thank you.