Henry Zoe

Mr. Speaker, these people have no alternative solution except those available through the NWT Housing Corporation. The core need for North Slave, excluding Yellowknife, is an astonishing 35 percent. We need to address these numbers.

Mr. Speaker, these are just a few scenarios as to what is happening out there with the countless policy barriers to homeownership. My people are being backed up against the wall. The Housing Corporation is supposed to be encouraging and supporting clients' homeownership for high-income public housing tenants, rather than overwhelming them with countless policy...

Mr. Chairman, enhancement at the territorial level for $500,000; where are they doing this?

Mr. Chairman, active positions on income support under the Tlicho heading, we have only one full-time and one part-time. Could I ask the Minister where these two positions are located? I think the Tlicho region requires more than one-and-a-half positions to serve the four Dogrib communities. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I think that's the problem. I think six months is a little too long before somebody…By the time six months is up, it could be fire season and they could be going into fire fighting or something, or getting seasonal employment during the summer at a lodge or someplace else. If somebody gets on stream in November and then after April, they will qualify in May, during the seventh month. But if they do find employment, particularly in May for fire fighters who may be on income support during the winter, I disagree and I'm not in favour of the way it's being administered now. I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So all these income support workers at the community level have different rate structures pertaining to food, clothing, et cetera.

Madam Chair, could I ask the Minister, I think his department is the lead, about the total amount of money that our government is putting forward with our partners.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Under the section advanced education and careers, I believe there are grants and contributions for literacy. As Members would note, I made a Member’s statement relating to literacy funding. I note, Madam Chair, under the details, that literacy funding has gone down substantially for this current year. I’m wondering why the department has cut the literacy funding to the tune of before $400,000 versus what we currently. For me, Madam Chair, I think it’s very essential and from my understanding from the Literacy Council that oversees literacy in the Territories, they...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to focus on a serious issue in my riding, and that is the transition from public housing to homeownership. The current NWT Housing Corporation policy on homeownership programs is creating an impossible environment for people to become homeowners.

Mr. Speaker, many of my people are employed with the diamond mines. According to the rent scale increase policy, anyone working at a diamond mine basically has no alternative but to consider homeownership. With household income, their rent will go through the roof with the new rent scale....

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The council plans on creating a resource management plan which includes support through the lottery authority to maximize revenue flow. Could the Minister expand on what this means exactly? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs why the establishment of the Sport and Recreation Council has been delayed. The council was supposed to be established in February as he mentioned in his Ministerial statement in October. Now the nominations for this council won’t even close until March. Thank you.