Alfred Moses

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation installs moisture-resistant drywall in bathrooms to reduce the chances of mould. Proper use and maintenance of ventilation systems by tenants and homeowners also helps to prevent mould formation. We evaluate new products for potential use in new construction when we are building new units in the communities, and keeping in mind you need northern considerations, such as transportation costs and installation. We also work with our partners. As the Member knows, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has been a big partner in terms of building new units up in...

I appreciate the Member does recognize our fiscal situation here within the GNWT, and as we go through our operations budgets as well as our capital budgets, we have to compete against things such as schools, health centres, roads, other types of infrastructure. Then you have to look at all the program services that we provide to residents of the Northwest Territories. We are working diligently with the NWT Association of Communities as well as our municipal government and our leaders across the Northwest Territories to address the concern that the Member has brought forward. It is, as all...

We have seen some increments in the capital funding since about 2014. MACA has been successful, though, in reducing the gap in operations and maintenance funding and environmental service funding by almost about 50 percent.

On the capital side of things, we have seen a significant funding investment through the federal infrastructure programs that has helped us mitigate the gap over the short period of time. We are running some of those projects out to the municipalities over the next year.

One initiative that MACA has started and implemented is an asset management strategy, and we are working...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to provide an update on the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs' progress on our mandate commitment to develop and implement a Northwest Territories Physical Activity Strategy. This strategy will promote community wellness and encourage individuals and families to lead healthy lifestyles through the promotion of physical activity.

Earlier this year the South Slave communities of Hay River, Fort Smith, and the K'atlodeeche First Nation hosted a very successful Arctic Winter Games. They proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, first and foremost, I would encourage any tenants who might feel that they are experiencing mould to contact their LHOs. The LHOs also do annual inspections for things such as mould and try to address it before it gets out of hand, I guess you can say, or gets too large to manage. The NWT Housing Corporation can also perform air-quality testing to see if there are mould spores in the air, and we also conduct preventative maintenance on units, like I mentioned, on an annual basis. So we are doing things in the communities. We are doing things in our public housing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think education, client education, in terms of public housing is key in preventing such things as mould, also with our repair programs. Specifically speaking about the mould issue, we have incorporated mould-prevention information with our STEP home maintenance and repair course as well as provided information on our website, and I encourage anyone who might be experiencing any kind of mould issues just to take a look on our NWT Housing Corporation website. They have got a lot of information on there to help assist in terms of prevention as well as...

To date, the department has not done any analysis on the cumulative shortfall. MACA continues to move forward on an ongoing basis to improve the ways that we do fund communities. As I mentioned, since 2014 we have seen a slight increase in the amount of funding that we do get. We do have to work within a GNWT fiscal framework, but we continue to look at ways we can try to lobby for more funds. Working with the federal government is one way that we've done it. Looking at some of their programs to help us offset some of the costs in our municipal governments, and we'll continue to work with our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Member's concern, and I appreciate his statement. This is a concern that we've been working on and trying to address. We have been working with the NWT Association of Communities to the Member's question. At the beginning of the 18th Legislative Assembly, the funding gap was approximately $39 million; 15 in operations and maintenance, and water and waste combined; and an additional of about $23 million in capital. For the current fiscal year, the funding gap is about 4.5 in O and M, and 4.8 in water and waste, including new costs identified for...

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 first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.