Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 31, Northwest Territories 911 Act, be read for the second time.

The bill directs the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to establish the NWT 911 service, a service for receiving and transferring emergency calls within the NWT. The bill binds the Government of the Northwest Territories and mandates the participation of telecommunications carriers, local authorities, and emergency service providers in the NWT 911 service.

The bill establishes a 911 cost-recovery fee and requires every...

Just for the record, I did not say the Member had said anything bad about our regional district offices, so I do not know where he got that from. Secondly, we continue to promote our programs in the Housing Corporation that have been having an impact in all of our communities across the Northwest Territories. In terms of HELP units, I answered the question earlier. It's based on demand for the program, and, if the demand is not there, then we are going to turn it into a market rent unit and vice versa. If the market unit is there and it's not being used, we will turn it into a HELP unit. Some...

At this moment in time I do not have a timeline for when Fort Simpson will get on that list. We have put it out there. As I mentioned in my statement, we have Indigenous governments that are seeking interest into developing these community housing plans. The community of Whati for one is a community that we are going to start with. This is new. This is new to government. It's new to the NWT Housing Corporation. As we start to develop it, and I have said this time and time again during the session, once we get a housing plan up and running it might show us a template for similar communities...

The introduction of more HELP units into any community across the Northwest Territories is only considered if there is a demand for the program. Obviously NWT Housing Corporation would like to work with residents to get into home ownership or work with them to get into housing units, but the same is for market units, you know. We have nurses, we have teachers out there who need units to stay in, and we need to find balance. The introduction of any HELP units across the NWT would be considered if there was a demand for the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned earlier, units are not profiled to another program unless it is confirmed that there is no demand for the unit under the original program, and that was the case.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome Judy, as well, a constituent of Inuvik Boot Lake. Always good to see you here in the proceedings and supporting and giving good advice to our Member representing Inuvik Twin Lakes. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, access to housing continues to be one of the most serious issues for people in the Northwest Territories. Many new players are coming to the table with a new interest in addressing this need, and roles and responsibilities for housing delivery continue to change and evolve. Our government is committed to working with the other governments and housing stakeholders to implement Northern solutions for Northern housing to help address our high cost of living.

The federal government has come back on the scene with a potential long-term commitment under the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 23(2) of the NWT Housing Corporation Act, I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report 2017-2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The NWT Housing Corporation has gone through a significant change during the 17th and the 18th Legislative Assemblies. We have developed some great programs that are helping communities, that are helping families, and we are going to continue to promote those programs. I encourage communities, I encourage Members, I encourage residents to go and speak to their local housing office. Also go and speak with the regional district offices on low those programs can help and benefit a community. We have a lot of programs that are very successful.

Like I mentioned, we have gone through a change over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we look at the demand in our communities, we look at what the priorities are of the region. As I mentioned, over this session one of the initiatives that we are taking on as the Housing Corporation in working with the communities, as you heard in my Minister's statement earlier, is we are going to be developing these community housing plans and we are going to be working with leadership, we are going to be working with stakeholders to identify these.

In the situation and the questions that the Member has asked earlier, you know, we had to make some changes within...