Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will consider the suggestion brought forward, and even though it was not suggested, I was hoping it would come out. We are looking at other options for seniors. I did have seniors come to me since I have been the Minister and state to me that it is not only a matter of accessing affordable housing, it is a matter of accessing safe housing. So I have had a number of seniors come to me and say that they do not feel safe in some of the apartment buildings in this community, and so we are looking at perhaps doing a pilot project where we can actually blend seniors...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is a question that I am hoping that will come out with more ideas within the survey. I don't have all the answers, but I am open to any feedback. If I do not see it in the survey, if the Members have ideas on how I could do that better, then I am more than open to hearing their feedback. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, yes. Currently, we have budgeted in our budget $4,410,000, and it's the same as it was for the last year. At this point in time, which we're almost at the end of the fiscal year, we only have expended about half of that money. So I don't know if the issue is that we need to put more money in or the issue is that we need to focus on a communication plan, that we actually have to let people know that it's out there. So I don't think it's appropriate to put more money into a program that is being under-utilized until we see if there is an actual need for it. That is, I take...

I did say in the House here that one of my goals before I have finished my position with the Government of the Northwest Territories is to ensure that we have homeless shelters in every region, so we have reached out to the region of the Sahtu and, through that process, we received two proposals.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point we do not have a defined number in the department. They have been talking about the pilot project of at least 10. I have been moving them and saying a pilot project with at least 33. One per community would be my pilot project goal. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The section is actually in capital, for the building of the units. There is some in here, as well, for land, et cetera. The update on what is happening with the RCMP units, though, is more important. At this point, we are waiting. The RCMP at first wanted to hand over all of its units to totally get out of housing of its members. At this point, they are rethinking that. They are looking at perhaps maintaining a couple of their units, so we are not sure. We actually are working with them, still, and we are waiting for them to decide which way they are going forward with it...

I am feeling like it is my birthday. In all honesty, seniors are a huge issue not only for myself but for all the Ministers sitting at the table here. We will be focusing a lot of effort within our program renewal on our provision of supports to seniors. So, yes, we will contemplate a rent-subsidy program on top of what we already have to accommodate seniors to age in place.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It would have been interesting to have the Member actually answer that question, though, and just kind of see her input.

---Laughter

So to address the whole issue of core need, like I say, we are looking internally to see if we can be more effective, more efficient with our current programs. If it makes sense to move people out, we are trying to do training programs so that, out of 200 houses, we don't have to fix 108 windows every year. We are trying to train people so that they can actually maintain their homes better. We are trying to look at home ownership versus public...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, the victims of family violence component has one year left. We are expecting that the federal government will renew that after the term, though. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, at this point in time, the only communities within the Northwest Territories that have actual homeless shelters are Inuvik, Yellowknife, and Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.