Floyd Roland

Thank you, Madam Chair. The purchase price of the units is based on an independent appraisal. First, the individual has to try to sell the unit themselves. They have to prove that they have been trying to sell the unit and have not been successful. Then the guidelines provide for 90 percent of the first $80,000 of appraised value, and then 80 percent of the remaining value of the house up to a maximum of $180,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, one of the requirements to qualify under this is that an annual financial report would be provided to the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. As well, I should state that the practice of cost sharing just between the government and ourselves is one level, but as well from the organization to the harvester it’s not a full purchase of equipment, it’s cost shared at that level as well. I can ask the Minister responsible to provide more detail on that reporting requirement. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is right. The program ceased, but there were still a number of people who were part of the original program. They were grandfathered. This program is no longer available. It was just those that were left on the list when the program shut down. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this portion is our share of it. It’s cost shared with the Fort Smith Metis Council. I don’t have a copy of the actual proposal that was put in and what the intention of the funding is. I believe the Minister of RWED does have some information on that though.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, it has been recognized that with our fragmented system of human resource management throughout the Government of the Northwest Territories, many issues of this nature do arise. That is why we have taken the effort to pull that together so that we will have a better process in place, and the same interpretations of our rules would be enforced, worked on and delivered. We do recognize that and are working to make that better so that all employees would have the same understanding of what is available to them.

I haven’t been made aware of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are purchasing the units back from our employees. This is the tail-end of a program that was in place by the government where we tried to encourage employees to buy units in communities. If they were transferred or left their positions, then we would buy back the houses. The residual number of units were transferred over to the Housing Corporation when the program shut down. These are a number of the last units. I don’t have the actual number. There are not many left, but this is fulfilling our end of those agreements. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when the plan came forward, there was no identified office space. It was a plan that we knew would go into gear. We had approved the money for the O and M side to hire the lawyers, to have the other staff in place, that we would be needing office space. Based on the design of what would be required, there was an estimate made of the needed alterations to any office space out there, and based on that we had approved it because it was needed to get it in place, to have the doors open potentially by October 1st. We know now that that's not what happened...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The program itself was originated back in the days of the 13th Assembly, I believe, 1994. A program was initiated. The total amount of the program was for $15 million and eligible groups were able to apply for it. A formula was established based on the general hunting licences held by each region. That split out that money. It had to be matched by the organization. So if an organization wanted to see this, they had to come up with their dollars and it had to be put into a separate account and then they could start accessing it for those harvesters. The amount that’s...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we are one of the leading jurisdictions when it comes to recognizing aboriginal rights throughout Canada. For example, we have provided National Aboriginal Day as an actual day that is recognized as a paid day off for employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories and have put it in as recognized throughout the North. So I think we have examples of being proactive here. I would gladly discuss with the Member the specifics of what he is looking at. The whole civic leave area is one of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I will provide the numbers; sorry about that. The first one was $60,000 for health authority, Fort Smith, for the community counselling program. The birthing room was $90,000. Inuvik improvements to office space for positions were $355,000. Office space for medical and support staff was $350,000. Thank you.