Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly was an early advocate for the ombudsman during my first term in the 15th Assembly, and then in the 16th Assembly I did question, similarly as the Premier had done, wondering about the value and the challenges put before us.

I often wondered: would the MLAs be putting themselves out of a job by having an ombudsman because people would first think that is the person we should be going to. But over time I have learned even more. I have been given the chance to understand the complexities and particular issues and appreciate how challenging they can be. I think...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be very clear on the record. I think that there are cases and reasons why we do direct appointments, and I am certainly not against all of them by any means. I want to make sure that’s absolutely clear. I’m only about public transparency, and that’s really what it comes down to. Frankly, my question, lastly, for the Minister of Human Resources would be: Minus the recent devolution transfer of appointments – because some of them, if not all of them, had to be considered direct appointments – what type of direct appointments are we talking about that have fallen...

If it’s provided to committee, of course, as we all know through the various channels, levels and scrutiny we receive, of course, every piece of that information is confidential. What public reporting can be done on this particular subject?

Thank you. I appreciate that answer. I’m not sure I want to screw it up by asking another one and getting him to retract it. But does the Minister see a possibility of working on the solution within the next few weeks so we can build it into the upcoming budget?

Recently the Department of Education has taken back about $400,000 from this school board. I know the Department of Education – we don’t need the exact dollar – turns back money every single year to the Department of Finance, and I know they’re always happy to get that money back.

So what I’m trying to get at is: Does the Minister see...

[English translation not provided.]

I am practicing my French, and some days I practice better than others.

Mr. Speaker, what I was trying to say there was today’s final statement will be on fracking technology. Our environment, our water and our land are very important.

Industry is working very hard to reduce the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. General Electric and Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas producer, are working on waterless fracking. Instead of water, these companies plan to use supercritical carbon dioxide to enable the flow of gas and oil to their wells.

Su...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly do speak in favour of the principle of the bill, but I do feel that the Residential Tenancies Act update is missing some critical components. I’ll just leave it as simple as that, for example, the Hotel Keepers Act allows someone to be let go, removed, and evicted where the update of the Residential Tenancies Act shows that it’s well thought out that people are protected, and I would assume that the update would have considered these types of remedies.

The example I provide to somebody is that there are folks out there who can only rent in certain spots, and...

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

---Unanimous consent denied

Yes, sir.

I’d hate to think the program was successful and that was why we cancelled it. Maybe the Minister can talk about the interim solutions we can offer these families who have young people who want to start their careers. They like the ideas of trades. I mean, the Minister is so focused in on the end portion where they’ve gone through the trades program and they’ve graduated and moved on. I’m trying to get people into the program who want a fresh start at life, and it’s our job to ensure that we give them a great start.

What exists for these folks who need these pre-employment programs, these pre...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Greatly appreciated. I have a question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Some time ago there were some pre-employment programs funded through SFA, and this is where it’s unfortunate to say this, but we know that all school education programs are not created equal and some kids graduate without the skills to get into trades programming. There was a pre-trades program available for youth so we could help them move forward on their career to be part of society in a very productive way.

Can I ask the Minister, what happened to that program and how was it...