David Krutko

Mr. Speaker, we have a very vast Territory, but we also have 33 communities. I think, as a government, we have to find unique ways to deal with the rural and remote communities. This has been an issue since as long as I’ve been here for 15 years. I believe that we have to find mechanisms that may not be able to fit all communities, especially with the challenges we face. So I’d like to ask the Minister if she’s more than willing to consider looking at ensuring that we have dedicated nurses or dedicated social workers to ensure that they do spend the time in our communities, and it’s not simply...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a well-known and respected, Mary Kendi, turns 95 years old today. Born at the Pokiak Channel, across from Aklavik, at a time when there was only a trading post in the area, married in 1932 in an arranged marriage, she lived in the bush, hunted, trapped and fished. Mary raised nine children and took care of many of her grandchildren. In 1992, Mary Kendi was the first woman in the Northwest Territories to receive the Wise Woman Award. Mary’s celebration will take place in Aklavik on Saturday. I wish Mary a very happy birthday and wish her well. Mahsi.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Programs and services are essential services for all our communities in the Northwest Territories. Throughout the NWT, from education programs to health care services and health centres to hospitals, we all depend on the programs and services that assist our residents to improve the quality of life, the well-being of our communities, and the health of our residents. From mental health positions in our communities to alcohol and drug programs to social workers, they do make a difference in our communities.

The goal of this Assembly is healthy, vibrant communities. The...

Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister if he can tell me exactly when is the new water treatment plant going to be up and operational so the people in Aklavik can get some safe drinking water from the new water treatment plant.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Municipal and Community affairs and it’s in regard to the new water treatment plant that’s being installed in Aklavik. There is a problem with the contracting and contractors in regard to payments that have been outstanding to subcontractors and also even the community Hamlet of Aklavik who has provided a lot of gravel to this source, yet there seems to be a problem with payment. I’d like to ask the Minister in regard to what, if any, holdbacks have been in place and does he know if the contractors and the Hamlet of Aklavik...

I would also ask the Minister if he could inform the communities that this is going to take place. I believe the community of Sachs Harbour does not have an income support worker now. They used to have an income support worker but do not have one now and they have to bring someone in from Inuvik. Same thing for Tsiigehtchic, they have to bring someone in either from Fort McPherson or Inuvik. If they can find a way to work with these communities that are facing this challenge where the people are being charged economic rent and the problem is that hopefully we won’t have to evict anybody...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. In light of the switchover from the rent supp from the Department of Education to the Housing Corporation, we’re still getting calls from our communities that depend on a fly-in income support worker who goes into the community to do the assessment and then flies back out. What we’re finding is people are still being charged economic rent. In some cases the whole community is charged economic rent until the income support worker arrives. I think that through this transfer back to the Housing...

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we can study this thing but I don’t think the communities want to wait that long. I think, in the meantime, there are workable solutions here and one of them I mentioned earlier is that we have dedicated staff either from the regional centres, the adjacent communities, and dedicate them to those communities that don’t have a full slate of service providers such as nurses, social workers or even people in regard to mental health and alcohol and drug workers. So I’d just like to ask the Minister, can she direct the health authorities that they have dedicated nursing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It’s in regard to the words “essential services,” and I think, more importantly, what are we doing to fill the gap between the have and have-not communities when it comes to programs and services such as health care, education and, more importantly, those positions that we depend on such as the nurses, the social workers and also looking at the clientele such as mental health workers to assist the communities with alcohol and drug programs, because those services make a difference to our communities...