Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by actually addressing the question. I am actually glad the honourable Member asked this question. Earlier with her questions, I had promised to give her a contract. I have since learned that, actually, I may not be able to give her the full contract because of the Privacy Act. I will be able to provide her with the information that is on the normal procurement site, but not the whole contract. I just want to apologize for any misunderstanding that I may have given before. In answer to the contract that is being done now, I can state that the...

As stated earlier, the housing programs expanded in the early 1960s to the mid-1960s to incorporate Indian and Eskimo housing. Then it evolved into Northern Territorial rental units and some public housings were built from about the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by qualifying before I answer the Member's question about that, the information that I have on hand is just my understanding at this point and hasn't been qualified or researched. I will answer it, but based on my immediate understanding, not stuff that I can actually say I've researched and is factual, but my understanding is that the federal government started building homes in the Northwest Territories. They were built for treaty Indians, actually, and I apologize for the term, but that was the term used in the times from the mid- to the late...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was going to let him have the last word, but I appreciate it. Again, I do support it. I do wish that it would have had some kind of timeline that said every four years or something that the voter's list would be updated just because it is so obsolete and just unmanageable, in my opinion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a really fine line that that Member is asking me to consider, in all honesty, because I do believe in self-determination, and I think that allowing the local housing organizations to have autonomy and determination of how they use their funding is best practice, in my opinion.

I can commit that I would recommend we meet with the local housing organizations on an annual basis. I can bring this up as a topic of discussion, but at this point, no, I am not willing to instruct local housing organizations on what to do with their compensation, the funding that we provide them for administrating...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I understand the intent of this and I agree with the intent. Again, I am going to abstain on this one because I do have some issues with the sentence: "The outcome of investigations may be published on Election NWT's website or by other means the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate."

In my understanding as people are innocent until proven guilty, this doesn't state that, if the findings are proven true that they would be, this says that the Chief Electoral Officer has the ability to define, on her own, outside a court of law whether it is appropriate or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the relationship between the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and the local housing organizations is as a third party entity in that we contract out our services to provide supports on the ground for the housing units that are built in their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the effort that the committee has put into making this motion. I do have a little bit of difficulty with it. My only difficulty is that I recognize that the filing of reports and access to banks is an issue that I will not take -- it is a huge issue. My only concern is that it has really left it kind of vague because it just says "replace it with a practical, reliable requirement that ensures accountability and transparency." I personally would have preferred if there was something more concrete within this than just leaving it to whatever the interpretation...

At this point, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is exploring all of the options that are available to us to ensure that all of the houses actually meet their needs within the communities. Our number one priority is to ensure that homes are in communities. That is why some of the units actually were pulled into Ulukhaktok and like I say, partially completed as the Honourable Member pointed out, because we were conscious that they needed to meet the barge. So we are working diligently. Our number one focus is to make sure that we have houses in communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.