Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take a note from my colleague Ms. Lee’s book here, and hopefully do some loud crowing and roostering about the housing situation here in the Northwest Territories.

---Laughter

You know, since we last met here a few weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of signals that show that it is getting and it is going to get even more expensive to keep a roof over your head and that of your family. Mr. Speaker, thinking of buying a house, the average here in the Northwest Territories, we learned last week, for a three-bedroom unit is now $246,000, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I would like to underscore for the Minister and get his response, if he cares to, on the issue of the lack of land, as I am told no publicly available land. How can developers make decisions? We are quickly coming up to the spring and summer construction season. If we don’t know whether or not we can get land in a certain time frame, how can these decisions be made? This is the crunch that the City of Yellowknife and developers are facing in Yellowknife right now, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of the protocol and exercising this Interim Measures Agreement, is it working out to everyone’s satisfaction? Are we able to see through this clear management of the handing over of land to communities? Is this agreement working the way it should? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is to that last point that I would really like to focus on. This is where I am continuously crowing for our government, Mr. Speaker, to be more aggressive and innovative. Could the Minister tell us, the recent announcements about federal infrastructure money coming into the North, is this potentially going to be something that can help us deliver more affordable land in our communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information there. I guess I would like to ask the Minister for some more clarification with regard to the status or the position of the Yellowknives Dene or other aboriginal organizations in terms of how land is disposed of or delegated. What is the role there? How does this process work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very fortunate to have living in Yellowknife many members of my immediate family, my mother being one of them. My dearest, Esther Braden, welcome to the Assembly.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly the Minister is right; these are agreements based on goodwill and intention on everyone to move them forward, but things happen and interest can change from time to time. Right now, Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that if someone wanted to build a house or develop something, there is no publicly owned land that you could purchase in the city of Yellowknife. Our situation is that dire and we are extremely dependent on this process to get land available for the growth the city faces. Does this agreement prescribe clear, well-defined time frames by which...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow through with the Honourable Michael McLeod on some land issue questions as the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. In our discussion earlier in question period, Mr. Speaker, the Minister mentioned the Interim Measures Agreement as the protocol that we have regarding our government’s management of Commissioner’s land and the interests of municipalities or others and aboriginal governments. In the city of Yellowknife, we went through last year quite an interesting exercise, thankfully one that had a good outcome, with the Con Camp area...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

Please provide data available regarding trends in drug-related offences, court appearances, jail terms, Legal Aid files and social services intervention, such as child apprehensions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would certainly like to see a plan that is well designed and that everybody buys into as our goal, instead of speed on this one. I look forward to the developing plan.

Mr. Speaker, it was kind of interesting as well to hear about the progress of the northern strategy, but also the creation of an expert panel which is going to be looking at equalization and territorial formula financing models. These are two very big and far-reaching processes, Mr. Speaker. Is there any potential for conflict between the northern strategy process and this one regarding financing and...