Jackie Jacobson

Today, I would like to consider establishing a dedicated position to manage travel arrangements for cancer patients, with a mandate to expedite travel, to minimize delays for the people who I represent in our small communities in the Beaufort-Delta as a whole, to get a doctor and a care unit going into the communities at least once a year to try to catch cancer. Because, by the time it is caught, it is either stage 3 or stage 4, and you can't do anything, and then we are losing loved ones because of the system. Is the Minister willing to work with me to do a pilot project in the Beaufort-Delta...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I brought up who is not affected by cancer in our great territory. For the people who I represent in Nunakput, to have to travel out for one-day appointments to Inuvik is probably four days because of the timing of flights, and stuff like that. For the safety of my constituents, what I want to bring up, Mr. Speaker, is: is the Minister working with the department to identify cancer for Northerners, and how could we speed the process up to help them travel to get to their appointments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to pay my respects to Aida Egotak. Thoughts and prayers for her husband, Mark, and her daughter, Helena, and the rest of the family. She passed away in Ulukhaktok. Thoughts and prayers for Elsie and Joseph and the rest of the family.

Also, I would like to pass on regards to Arnold Archie, to my Aunty Barbara, Dorthey, Marth, Elvira, Peter, Bessie, Charlie and Gorge and Wilbert. Thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Whoever lost loved ones in the past few months, Mr. Speaker, thoughts and prayers are with the families from Nunakput. Thank you.

As the Housing Corporation across Nunakput, I know the rent scale is out of whack. We have to sort that out for the people. The T4 system is not working. The high rates, the cost of the units that we're providing, which is 42 percent problematic since the last census, there are problems in every unit that we have. There is overcrowding. People are suffering, Mr. Speaker. We need to make the residents, my constituents in my riding, they have to have a place to stay. Would the Minister answer me, yes or no, if she could provide the answer to stop the evictions for the next six months so we can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I have my questions for the Housing Minister in regards to working together. Mr. Speaker, would the Housing Corporation and the Housing Minister take lead to stop the evictions for the next six months so we could work together with the clients in the Beaufort Delta in my riding of Nunakput to get them back on track on a go-forward basis, so cutting out evictions and people with medical having to be moved to other houses? She could take lead right now to say "yes" to me, Mr. Speaker, and make it right. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to this go-forward on the rent scale, I'm giving notice now, Mr. Speaker, if I'm unsatisfied with the Housing Corporation, I'll be bringing a private Member's bill to bring forward for the next sitting of this House to provide our own rent scale, but I want to work with the Minister in regard to working on that rent scale and for the people in the Northwest Territories. This is not only my riding; this is across the whole territory. This rent scale has to be sorted out, because people who want to work, people can't work because they are penalized if they do...

The question I asked was: could the Minister stop the evictions in the Beaufort-Delta and across the territory for the next six months? Because Christmas is coming. The last thing we need to have our constituents worrying about is being evicted and having a roof over their head when, at the end of the day, this government has to provide housing shelter over our constituents.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Residents of public housing in communities across the Northwest Territories, especially in my riding, have challenges created by the Housing Corporation's Public Housing Rent Scale. Something has to be done urgently to help the people who we serve, Mr. Speaker.

The Housing Corporation's website says to the public, and I quote, "The rent scale is designed to help reduce your cost of living in Northwest Territories communities, to increases your personal responsibility for your shelter costs, and to encourage your participation in employment, if employment is available in...

I'm going to call out the airlines. I want adequate service provided to our residents of the Beaufort Delta. I guess from outside Yellowknife, the Sahtu, Beaufort Delta, my riding of Nunakput and Aklak Air, also. Today, I had five passengers on standby out of Paulatuk. That's not right, Mr. Speaker. They have to have adequate aircraft to provide the service that they're providing, and people are missing appointments, now. What are we going to do?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am really concerned with our airline services that we're having back home in the Delta. Since this merger came online with Canadian North and First Air, our cancer patients and medical travel patients have been having a really tough time getting out of Inuvik. Today, seeing as a community I represent, Paulatuk, is having five people on standby, I am calling out the airline, Mr. Speaker, in regard to getting aircraft and adequate services provided to these people who are travelling for cancer, cancer patients for either surgery or treatment, and any others...