Mackenzie Delta

Statements in Debates

Debates of , (day 28)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, we have committed to do a report back to the House in regards to ensuring that we analyze the efforts to date and that we will put forward a report and carry on. We still have other communities that have the same problem. There is a market challenge in other communities in the Northwest Territories. These are some of the communities. There are still communities out there that have this problem of accommodating professionals in our communities. So it is a problem that won’t go away simply by removing this program, but we will...

Debates of , (day 28)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I tried to explain yesterday to Members, there have been problems in regards to logistics and in regards to damage to these units in transportation. The damage has been fixed, but that was one of the main delays of the project. It was because the trailers were damaged being unloaded off the barges in Lutselk'e and also in Fort Good Hope. Those are the two communities that have not been occupied today because they are behind on the schedule. The whole project has not been delayed in regards to the people that are applying. Right now, as of today, we...

Debates of , (day 28)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the trailers that went to the communities benefited those communities. There are no trailers in Yellowknife, so the benefit went directly to those communities.

Debates of , (day 28)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the benefit was for the whole Northwest Territories on this one. The people in the communities benefit by way of employment, job opportunities and assisting the business community. We may see a downturn with regard to activity in our communities. So there is benefit to the local community and the Northwest Territories. Also, with regard to the notion that communities are benefiting over Yellowknife on this one, I don’t believe that’s the case. This is an initiative that has put some 60 beds into communities which weren’t there before. The way I look...

Debates of , (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a care facility in Deline that has been unoccupied for some time. We have put a proposal to the community to come back with something in writing, if they can find another use for it. We are talking to people within the department, from the Department of Health and also if there are any non-government organizations interested in making use of that facility, we are open to offers. So we have put an offer out there, we haven’t heard anything back to date, so the offer is still there. So that is where it sits today.

Debates of , (day 27)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Community Driven Solutions: NWT Housing Corporation 2003-2004 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that we have to clarify the notion. This is not subsidised housing like the government housing program in the past. This is market housing that was put forth as a business venture from the Housing Corporation. We are there to recoup the investment that we made by way of the rents that we would be charging. Also, another point I would like to make is that the rates that we are setting for these units are less than what we are charging to clients in social housing. So on one hand you are saying that we are charging too much, but on the other...

Debates of , (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a call that went out to all agencies and different departments to see where there was a problem with regard to accommodating professionals in the different communities. The communities that were picked were Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Lutselk'e, Fort Resolution, Fort Providence and Fort Liard. Those were the communities that seemed to have the most systemic problem of attracting teachers because of the problems with accommodations. Those are communities that were picked for the first round, and there were other communities identified...

Debates of , (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that’s one of the reasons we have to complete this report, is because we did have some logistical problems by way of transportation, barging, looking at sites for these units, gravel was a problem in some communities, and power hookup. Because of the timing of this contract going out, we also weren’t able to meet the timelines that we were looking at. So it’s been moved ahead. With that, we are going to look at the overall project itself to see exactly the hiccups that we did have so we could avoid them in the future. Thank you.

Debates of , (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, until we complete our review, we can’t make that decision outright right now. We will have to do that review before we determine if we’re continuing on or not.