Robert Hawkins

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the issue of hydraulic fracturing, not unlike my good colleague to my left, Ms. Bisaro, and the concerns from the public.

One of the concerns from the public, and I certainly see it as an issue as an individual MLA, has been why have we not had the courage to just go straightforward and ask the question to Northerners: Is hydraulic fracturing appropriate for the Northwest Territories? Have that dialogue, understand and educate ourselves as to what the pros and cons are of it, and then step forward and work on regulations...

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

---Unanimous consent denied

That’s okay, Mr. Speaker. I think I have already sort of stated my issue for the record. I will go to the next question with no problem. Thanks for your guidance, Mr. Speaker.

Is there any reason that ATCO, the billion dollar company we talked about earlier today, could not bid on the upcoming Hay River franchise agreement? Thank you.

When was the last time the Northwest Territories Power Corporation put a competitive bid in the Town of Hay River for the Hay River franchise? What would be helpful here to understand is how long each franchise agreement is put into place. It is my understanding that it has been years since the last one that the Northwest Territories actually fully competed in, because, as I understand it, they fully withdrew from the last process they may have been considering to be involved in.

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...