Bob Bromley

That sounds great. I appreciate the Minister providing that information. I think this is a great program, as I’ve said before. We need to have these apprentices out in the communities where the need is greatest.

I want to follow up on the detail I sort of flagged in my general comments. There is $925,000 identified in ECE for creation of job opportunities in our communities, small and rural communities specifically. I am going to assume that there’s a pretty good match with our housing programs in the communities there. Again, I see this as an opportunity for the Minister to strike out in a new...

That resolves any concerns I had. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have one question on this page. I note the mortgage principal and interest payments are $9.065 million and I understand from the previous page, middle of the page, that this is on a mortgage of $56.3 million. Is that correct? Am I reading that correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I refer to the activity description for the executive. The executive office works collaboratively with GNWT departments and agencies on government-wide strategies and numerous joint initiatives to further advance policies and programs to meet the needs of NWT residents. It also collaborates with community and government partners in addressing housing needs across the NWT.

Mr. Chair, the Centre for Northern Families houses some of the most desperate clients we have from across the NWT, yet they find themselves in a very dire financial situation threatening their...

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister’s commitment there. I look forward to that information, but I can say that it hasn’t been done yet. That is again a huge frustration and so much for interdepartmental efficiencies that supposedly have been worked on. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, given that, again, the role this NGO plays is critical and we continue to have people go missing when they are released from the hospital, the Centre for Northern Families ends up being the last stop of last resort. It is really critical to get this result. This has been going on for years now. Will the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and focused on the Centre for Northern Families which has obviously, according to the news, found itself in a fairly desperate financial situation. Mr. Speaker, the Centre for Northern Families obviously plays a big role in our city here and in society in general across the Territories in helping women who find themselves in dire situations, women and their children. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, beyond the stabilization supports and modest funds that are provided to NGOs delivering critical services, what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 2009 I told this Assembly about a Weledeh constituent who is taking on the Workers’ Compensation and Safety Commission. I’ll update you today on his progress.

The basis of this dispute is the fact that while workers can receive compensation for the psychological pain resulting from injuries, WSCC practices doesn’t allow compensation for physical pain. Psychological pain settlements are made according to a written standard which rates severity. I have read the policy. There may be a provision for a physical pain standard to determine compensation, but WSCC has...

Again, I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. I believe he does see opportunities there and kind of understands what I’m getting at here.

As I’ve said, I really support the Apprenticeship Program and I think we have opportunities that would sort of be a precursor to apprenticeship. It could be fairly modest maintenance programs for housing, ways to reduce housing costs. Like I mentioned, gathering wood for the distributed heating system and working with ENR, who is actually active putting distributed energy systems out there and so on, to deal with some of the costs that the Housing...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to start off by asking just for clarification on the Apprenticeship Program. I don’t believe I have that quite right. I wonder if the Minister has the information handy on how many apprentices we have and are planning to have during this budget’s fiscal year and if we happen to know off hand what the current apprentices areas of expertise are.

I’m rather startled by that. Does the government get a very penalizing interest rate compared to any corporation or individual that I know of in Canada? I would say at a 6 percent interest rate we’d be looking at over $5 million per year on the principal. What could the interest rate possibly be to result in this situation, which means by 2038 we will have paid four times the value of the loan? Could I at least start with the interest rate? Thank you.