Caroline Cochrane

Those units are only for single people within the Northwest Territories. In the same manner that we have units that are designated only for seniors we will have units that are designated only for singles.

Our first step actually is to do a thorough analysis of the audit and look at the recommendations that are in that. The other thing that we are doing actually, and just implementing currently, again is we are asking all of our staff within the Municipal and Community Affairs for suggestions on ways to improve, and that includes the recommendations within the audit. So until that work is done then I can't commit to doing a zero-based review.

There's a number of factors that actually stand in the way of -- it's not that we don't fulfil our mandate it's maybe we're not progressing and maybe not doing as much paperwork as we need to, so there are some issues. Municipal and Community Affairs is based on -- years ago we changed it into what's called a "New Deal" and that is really about community development. It's about empowering the communities to acknowledge what their strengths are and their needs are; which is something I really support. So we do try to provide training and support to them.

One of the other challenges that we have...

I should clarify. When I say mistakes were made, it's not that we made a mistake in asking if we needed them at the time. It's just that it does take a couple of years for us to do the business plan and then get the units constructed, so we did err in that way. But it wasn't a mistake to put the units in.

Can we consult on the small communities? Absolutely. We are just in the process, like I had done in my Minister's statement earlier, that we're in the process of rolling out our engagement survey, which will ask each community what type of housing that they need in their community. Thank you...

I can't confirm the actual market rental in Fort Providence itself because each community is different, but I can confirm that as part of this survey, and actually even before the survey, we are conducting a total review of all of our rental for accommodations in every single community, so we're in the process of doing that now.

As stated previously, we've already called for the -- or we will be calling for the five partners to come together and work on issues that we're facing. So, yes, I will commit to having the department work with the sports and recreation organizations on the development of a wide sectorial policy in full consultation with the organizations.

As the Members may know, taking in the lottery funding into the governance of the Northwest Territories is a new endeavour that we're doing. It is basically to save the taxation that may come out if we leave it within an independent organization. So that will result in hopefully about $1 million in savings that we might have had to pay for taxation.

So like I had said previously, we have promised that the Sport and Rec programming will receive the same amount of funding for this year, and probably more. Given that many of the organizations that we work with actually provide both sport and rec...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hearing from communities including communities organizations and Aboriginal governments through this survey about the solutions to housing as they see in their communities is critical. While housing is complex, be assured that this survey will assist in ensuring that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation plans coincide with the goals and the strengths of each individual community and work towards stable housing for all residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, this survey will help the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation ensure its policies and...

That is a really tough question to answer directly and say yes or no. The reality is that we are in the process of doing the engagement survey, we have committed to doing community plans, individual community plans, for each community. If a community states to us that singles in their community is their number one priority, then that's where we'd be focusing our efforts. So it does depend on what the community surveys come back with.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to update the Members on how the Governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories are making investments in our communities that will bring economic opportunities for residents and businesses and revitalize municipal infrastructure.

On September 6, 2016, federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Amarjeet Sohi, and the Northwest Territories Deputy Premier, Robert C. McLeod, signed a bilateral agreement for the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund and Public Transit Fund. This agreement will see the federal government providing over $50...