Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation definitely is committed to using energy efficiency when we are looking at building new homes or even with renovations that are being done in the communities. One of the big things that I have talked in this House, and I will say it again, is we are going to be looking at these community housing plans, and we are willing to sit down with the leadership. One initiative that we really need to get out there and let people know about is the community housing support initiative. That can have an impact on some of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since I have been in the role, I have been meeting with a lot of leadership, and we need to have these programs and services given out to our stakeholders and our partners. We will be focusing on getting the website done. We are still working on it, and hopefully in May/June we will have something more updated. That will be after the Northern Housing Summit, as well, so we will get some feedback from some of our leadership on how we can make that website even more efficient in terms of getting the programs and services out. Through you, Mr. Chair, maybe I will ask my...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, elders play a very important, vital role in our communities. They have helped build this territory. They have given us a lot of experience, education, promoted our languages, our traditions, our culture throughout the North. Today I would like to recognize one particular elder, and I do hope she is watching, Mr. Speaker, and it's my mom. It's her 76th birthday today, and I want to wish my mom a very happy birthday, and hope Members can join me in wishing you a very happy birthday. Thank you, and happy birthday, Mom.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 613-18(3): Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission Rate Structure." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Housing Corporation currently owns six vacant lots in Hay River. Four of these lots comprise, as the Member said, the Disneyland property, which is earmarked for the replacement of the Riverview Lodge. At present, this land is required to support the NWT Housing Corporation's capital planning needs, and we'll continue to focus on that. Should any land or property be identified as surplus at a later date, the property will be disposed of in accordance with the NWT Housing Corporation's disposal policy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right. Currently, there are no public housing units in the high-rise. It is on our agenda to take a look at, obviously, if something should happen in terms of if the building should be condemned. We need to have a plan. We are working with the leadership in Hay River to address that. Obviously, under the National Housing Co-Investment Fund that I've made statements in this House about, that provides an opportunity for partners to collaborate and work together to develop possibly a new rental construction.

We do know that that is an issue in Hay River. Like...

In short, we're always looking for land that will support our future capital planning and the projects that we are looking at developing. Obviously, in short, we are just looking for land that we can look at developing. As I said, the community housing plans that we are going to be working on, working with the leadership and stakeholders in the Town of Hay River, will help address the priorities that are needed. Yes, just in short, we're just looking for land that is going to help support our capital plans for the Town of Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are going to be looking at a replacement within the next five years for that building. The Housing Corporation plans to construct the replacement seniors' complex on existing NWT Housing Corporation's own land, avoiding the need to displace the current senior tenants. We do have a plan in place moving forward. I can get more details for the Member, but there is a plan in place. As I mentioned, we're looking at a replacement within the next five years. Obviously, we don't want to displace our seniors. We want to make sure that they are in an existing infrastructure, and we will keep the...

Addressing the financial needs of community governments is a long-term project that has to include clearly understanding what exactly those needs are and how effective our policies are in meeting them. That is why, Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories did a comprehensive review of its community government funding policies in 2014. The review was initiated, in part, because existing funding policies were difficult to understand and defend, in terms of the amount of funding any one community received. In addition, there was no direct linkage between the operations and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we do have a list of legislation through the department. Obviously, we want to prioritize them. We have one before standing committee right now, and it's something that I will continue to work on. As I mentioned, the department, we only have so many resources to do the work that we can. There is a list of legislation that needs to be done, and we are working on it. When we did get the mandates from the 18th Legislative Assembly, it did take away some of our resources to focus on getting this mandate done. At the same time, as you heard earlier, we are continuing to...