David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are around my Member’s statement in regard to working in conjunction with Government of the Northwest Territories departments and municipal governments to ensure that we are able to take advantage of federal program dollars, but, more importantly, to assist communities where they don’t have capacity by way of having the technical capacity of engineering technicians to basically deal with people that have planning backgrounds, regardless if it’s looking at the scope of work that has to be done, developing the proposals and whatnot.

So I’d like to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about working from public departments to municipal governments. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I do agree that community governments have been empowered to make decisions at the community level in regards to municipal service and infrastructure, but most community governments do not have the engineering or technical capacity to take on large-scale projects such as project management, looking at the scope of work that has to be done and ensuring that we’re complying with building codes and also ensuring that we have the capacity to deliver.

More importantly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again I’d like to ask the Minister, I know my colleague from Nunakput is very frustrated in regards to people getting evicted. Now, a lot of evictions have to do with arrears, yes, but a lot of those arrears are occurring because people are not getting the attention they should be by way of these service client providers, because the consistency with their visits or with the consistency of time they spend in the community is not there. It’s an inconsistent process. So what is this government going to do to improve the services to our communities and give us...

Mr. Speaker, that’s why I opened up with the lack of income support services, because there is no service. How can you have service when you have somebody come to a community for four hours a month? That’s not service. I think it’s important that this government puts the money into providing that service. There was over a million dollars given to the Department of Education when they transferred that responsibility from the Housing Corporation, and the whole idea was because we have local housing authority officers in the community. We won’t allow them to do the job of accessing people. Why...

Mr. Speaker, again, I’ve phrased this issue in this House in regard to the Aklavik situation in regard to the shoreline erosion that has basically come to the surface because of the inspection that was done by the community which realized that this project has to get some attention.

So I’d just like to ask the Minister here today if he can have someone go into Aklavik and assist them in regard to trying to pull this thing together. They’ve got numbers out there, they’ve provided some information to the different Ministers, myself, but, again, it’s not good enough. We have to do more to ensure...

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister exactly what is the process for a community to access these individuals, the people in the department, so that they can come into the communities, help them develop these proposals, take a look at the problem, regardless if it’s shoreline erosion or structural challenges that we’re facing, regardless if it’s permafrost or dealing with those systems in our communities. I’d like to ask the Minister what’s the process a community has to access these individuals in the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize some of the Pages in the House: Angel Kowana from Aklavik, Jessie Pascal, and her sister who is the chaperone here today is Janeta Pascal. Again, I’d like to wish you all the best on your trip home and I hope this was a learning experience. Hopefully, we’ll see you back here again someday. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

In the calendar year 2009, how often have income support workers travelled to Tsiigehtchic to provide income support services?

How many clients did they see on these visits?

How much time, in hours, did they spend in the community on each visit?

Mr. Speaker, this time I’ll be pleading with the Minister, can he seriously consider doing pilot projects in communities to improve the services to the residents of those communities who are only receiving four hours a month of services, and offer those dollars, instead of having people fly in and fly out, show up, say hello, good bye, fill out a piece of paper and leave, have those dollars stay in the community, provide an opportunity for people by way of employment, but, more importantly, have the service delivered by the community by way of community empowerment? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and it’s in regards to the lack of income support services in communities, especially communities such as Tsiigehtchic where you don’t have an income support worker in the community and you have to depend on people to come in from either Fort McPherson or Inuvik. They usually come in once a month and in most cases it’s at the end of the month, and it’s causing some problems not only for the local housing authority but for the residents of Tsiigehtchic. What we’re finding is they’re one month...