Caroline Cochrane

No, the department doesn't consider the Children and Youth Resiliency Program as part of its total for sports and recreation funding.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the money does differ between communities. In the budget, we had $825,000 in sports and recreation funding that we annually give to the community governments. Depending on the community size, et cetera, they range between $15,000 and $85,000 in sports and recreation funding annually. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Like I had stated earlier, prioritizing, we have already met with the chief. We are waiting for him to come back with a proposal to us on how he will provide the work. I should also state that there are six other homes on the reserve that have sat empty for over a decade. It is a sin, Mr. Speaker.

The reason they have sat empty is because of land tenure. It has always been an issue that the land belonged to the federal government and so we could not get it. These buildings were new, sitting empty, with people needing homes, so not only are we looking at the public housing. We are also looking...

For clarification, three of the units are currently occupied. They are not looking at it, so, out of those seven units that are looking at needing renovations, we are working with Chief Fabian. Because of capital plans, we have to make sure that we spread the wealth throughout all communities, all 33 communities, so, in this fiscal year we are looking at them working in partnership with the chief, with the band, to actually develop five units. Five of the remaining seven will be renovated. Like I said, we are hoping that the chief will come forward and provide us a proposal so that we are...

To divide down the actual monies from what we spend on actually supporting of youth and taking part in sports activities, and from what we pay staff, is a process that would take some time. If the Member would like, he can either present a written question or he can come to my office and I can provide him that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As stated, we do try to support local labour, whenever possible; sometimes it's not doable. We have committed. I mean, we do learn from previous mistakes; we're trying to better the programs so that people have better access to housing and better work experiences. So there are some things we're doing. We're doing a community initiative program that works with Aboriginal and municipal governments, in partnership, to deal with issues in their community; everybody having something in the pot. We are looking at individual community plans, such as we've done with Fort Good Hope, which was one of...

Basically, Mr. Speaker, why did I include the line in the bill, is my understanding of the question. So I'm going to try to state that without getting into trouble for talking about the bill. Basically, it's important that the -- I'm struggling to not talk about the bill.

It's important, Mr. Speaker, that all of the monies that are obtained through the Lottery Fund are protected and that we can actually use it for sports and recreation, which was the intent of that funding. So I am proposing that we would maintain that, as we have historically done, that we would do that in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the NWT Housing Corporation does use the BIP process as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As stated before, the City of Yellowknife has not approached me as the Minister to intervene on their behalf. As the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, I am open to any municipality or any of our funded bodies that need our assistance.

With the City of Yellowknife, I will be seeing them on the weekend, I believe, coming up here at the NWT Association of Communities AGM. If they have any concerns for me as the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, I am more than interested to listen to their concerns and see how I can assist them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To deal with each municipality, for me to reach out to each individual community government and ask them if they need my help would be very cumbersome, and I regret that I might forget one. There are 32 communities that we actually support. However, we work closely with the NWT Association of Communities. We are actually going down there, I believe, this weekend coming up. I am assuming, if they have issues, then that is where I am. They know me; they will come and approach me if they need help. My office is open. Municipal and Community Affairs is always willing to work with them.