Robert Hawkins

Trust is a very difficult thing to build. It takes experience and it certainly takes a relationship. I am glad we have some elders coming in, but it’s not a permanent solution.

What efforts are being made to permanently fill this position, because it is critical for the well-being and rehabilitation of inmates who need this vital service. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use today’s question period opportunity to talk about the North Slave Corrections Centre. The information provided by the department said the position for the Aboriginal wellness coordinator has been empty since June 3rd. This is a vital position that provides much needed services and strengths and supports to those seeking rehabilitation.

I would like to get an update from the Minister today. Has this position been filled, and if it has been, when, and if it hasn’t been filled, what’s the plan for the department to ensure the rehabilitation efforts are being...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For some time there hasn’t been an Aboriginal wellness coordinator at the North Slave Correctional Centre, and it’s been my understanding that this position has been vacant this summer as of June 3rd.

Being someone who is actually familiar with the Correctional Centre by working there only, I actually am familiar of how critical this cultural-appropriate programming is to the healing and rehabilitation of many. It’s important that we have relevant programming that is meaningful for those who are seeking help. With this position vacant, people are not getting the...

Thank you. I appreciate that information provided by the Minister, and I didn’t give him any notice. It’s an issue that we’re sitting here thinking about.

Is there any type of formal coordination for this normally? I need to think that this is a one-off circumstance that we always try to figure out as it happens. When Northerners go missing, we’re familiar within the Deh Cho and MLA Menicoche’s riding of Nahendeh that somebody had gone missing at one time and it was difficult to get the resources up and running immediately.

What type of things do we have in place so when a terrible circumstance...

Mr. Speaker, I’d hate to waste a question by asking, what does that mean?

Is the Minister running a competition right now? Is he looking for someone? Not personally, obviously. What are they doing in the context of finding someone on a permanent basis? If he wants, I can give him names of qualified individuals who could certainly fill this role. But it’s not my job to be a human resource officer; I’m an MLA.

So, the bottom line is, I want to know exactly what actions have been done to fill this position permanently. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I actually know one person who had applied for this position and I certainly would have felt that they would be very qualified for it. My understanding is that they were either screened out or, for whatever reason, they weren’t interviewed, and of course, as the Minister says, the position is empty today.

This role is very vital to the health and certainly the well-being of these inmates who we want to be returned to the public with the best opportunities before them. Mental health and cultural health are all critical, important parts. We have invested approximately $200...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I could go on at length on how important our fire system is, and certainly our resources and personnel. I would certainly like to do so, but unfortunately, time doesn’t avail itself to the amount of things that we should be talking how great they are. I will say that without them, we would have seen such a horrendous result of this summer, and I am very thankful they have been on the line providing the services that they do.

The government does provide the resources necessary to do this job, and it’s our job to support the government where necessary and we feel it makes...

I’m a little confused on the particular part about it actually particularly causing our government grief, if not financial, on the money on the bottom line. Maybe the Premier can illustrate why it actually costs us money when it’s a federal tax credit. That’s the area we should be arguing for. At the same time, this could be what starts to underpin successful growth in our territorial population, because right now we have very little.

The Premier, I think, said earlier today that we subsidize to the tune of $190 million. In that range. I mean, the exact number is not so important at this second...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be directed towards the Premier. In my Member’s statement I talked about the northern residents tax deduction.

My question would be to the Premier as such, which is: When is the last time this government or any recent previous government has requested an increase to the northern tax deduction, and if there has been one in recent years, would he have anything to substantiate that so we could see what type of letter or correspondence on the particular issue has been done and certainly what work has been made on this particular issue that can help the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer from the Premier. I mean, it certainly goes a long way of appreciating the complexity of this issue. The bottom line is, how are we putting more money in Northerners’ pockets? It had been frozen at approximately $5,400 for decades and finally migrated by 10 percent to just above $6,000 in 2008. The bottom line is, how do we get money in Northerners’ pockets, because we know more money in a family’s pocket is really going out into the community to buy that Klik, my colleague from the Sahtu had said, whether it’s buying gasoline for their skidoos...