Bill Braden

Okay, so we are getting somewhere. Those are very positive and desirable goals. I guess, in that though, whenever we create some new organization or some new system, Mr. Speaker, we should always be looking for ways in which we are going to measure its progress. How are we going to assess its value and see if it is, indeed, sticking to those goals? Could the Minister advise the Assembly what are the measurements by which we would be able to assess this new council’s aspirations? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for the Honourable Michael McLeod, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, and in his capacity for the NWT Council of Sport and Recreation Partners, which, Mr. Speaker, has been in the making for arguably more than four years now. I understand, Mr. Speaker, that this council has now finally been formatted and put together. I wanted to ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, when this council is going to actually get off the ground and what its mandate is. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Minister's Statement 70-15(3) be moved into Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to this bill, I will be voting against it.

Mr. Speaker, it is not too often that I oppose this kind of legislation. Mr. Speaker, this is brought before us, in fact on the recommendation of the Commissioner, and it is a serious piece of legislation for this committee, for this Legislature. But there are elements of this bill that I believe must be challenged. As I have done during debate in Committee of the Whole of this spending appropriation act, I want to take this final opportunity to air my objections.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill for...

Mr. Speaker, the third demand here is that our corporation work with other stakeholders to develop a convincing proposal to take to the federal government for additional investment. The Minister indicated he is going to be seeing the federal Minister, I think it was next month. We hope, Mr. Speaker, that he will take this message to heart and involve other people in the Housing Corporation's plans and visions. There’s a 10-year plan that we understand is in the makings. I wish we could learn more about that today or very soon, but I’m anticipating that in the near future we will, and I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, so there seems to be some momentum and some innovation here. The Minister has mentioned something about a 10-year plan. Is this something that has been put before the public or the Assembly and could the Minister tell us more about this initiative? Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we really have nothing more than another meeting scheduled among Ministers. If the Minister would like to expand on anything there, I’d welcome it at some point, but I’d like to know what other options is our Housing Corporation looking at to ensure that we will continue to have adequate investment in our housing infrastructure, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, new industry, unprecedented resource development and population growth are pushing our social infrastructure to the breaking point. Housing warrants our attention on an urgent basis. Our public and social housing system, Mr. Speaker, is built almost entirely on federal funding. Currently we owe $90 million in long-term housing loans to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It costs us $13 million a year to finance this, Mr. Speaker, and just to give you an illustration on how dependent we are on CMHC, they contribute $12 million of this $13 million annual financing cost...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking in support of the motion and I would look at the three tasks or the demands that we are putting forward in this motion, Mr. Speaker, as the areas that I would like to address. I think my statement reflected my deep concern for the first requirement, Mr. Speaker, and that is that we take on a much more urgent basis the sunset of the funding program that we have had in place with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation from $33 million, Mr. Speaker, this year in long-term mortgage assistance and O and M, and we’re going to see that drop, I think...

Mr. Speaker, the 2004-06 business plan outlines a goal to build between 750 and 800 units in the NWT over the next five years. This is under the affordable housing strategy. Now, this goal is about 18 months old. It’s the most recent one that I could find that’s before the public, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to ask if these targets, 750 to 800 units over the next five years, are still in place. Thank you.