Jackson Lafferty

Mr. Speaker, this is one area that our department is focusing on: those without detachments. We will certainly work on a schedule. We do have schedules in place for visits from the regional centres to communities without detachments.

Also, the Member talked about possibly options of overnighting. We need to work with the communities in finding suitable accommodation for officers to be in a safe environment in the communities. So we are continuing to work with the communities to identify those accommodations.

Also, the Member brought up a good point about building relationships. That is one of...

We’ll look into those options. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, a rent cap has been talked about in the past government, but at the same time, it is costly to initiate that process. So it has been talked about, but the department hasn’t pursued it because of high costs for our jurisdiction, the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

This is an important topic. It’s one of the priorities of the Northwest Territories, so certainly, yes, I will commit to keeping the Members informed of the progress we’re making.

Like I said, the ongoing consultation will be between the superintendents, the DEAs and our department. It’s all preliminary right now. Certainly the private contractors will play a role. We are working closely with the Housing Corporation as well. They have dialogues with local contractors in the communities. What it comes down to now is forming a partnership with the communities. We are in the process of forming a partnership with both ECE and the Housing Corporation and with the small communities that were faced with housing shortages.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled Northwest Territories Coroner’s Service 2006 Annual Report, Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Office, January 1 – December 31, 2007, and 2008 Report of the Northwest Territories Judicial Remuneration Commission.

Document 44-16(2), Northwest Territories Coroner’s Service 2006 Annual Report, tabled.

Document 45-16(2), Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Office, January 1 – December 31, 2007, tabled.

Document 46-16(2), 2008 Report of the NWT Judicial Remuneration Commission, tabled.

We do take suggestions into consideration from Members. That’s one area that’s been brought to our attention in the past. And certainly, we will work with it, the suggestion that’s brought forward.

There needs to be ongoing consultation with the community, the renters, the tenants, and rental officers, and with our department and with the Members as well. This is one of the issues that’s been addressed to us, and we’re discussing it within our department. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The rent has been an issue in the community. The community has addressed that with us, and we have met with the committees as well. There have been some requests that came in, so certainly, that is one of the areas that we are looking at.

With the current legislation we are working with, there are areas that we’re looking at where rents increase once per year, but they’ve got to be given three months’ notice. Those are in discussion, and we're working with our department on this specific area.

We are doing what we can to deal with those rent increases in the communities...

I appreciate the Member’s questioning of this area. We have had a dialogue with the Housing Corporation and our department, and we are coming up with options. We are doing some pilot projects in one of the communities where there is a loan guarantee from the Housing Corporation on to the contractor in the community to build units. That’s an area that we are focusing on, as well as an immediate plan. For long-term plans we are coming up with options to consider from the superintendents, the DEA chairs. Certainly those will be taken into consideration to deal with the housing shortages in the...

Mr. Speaker, we realize that housing is a big issue in the Northwest Territories, especially for professional staff that we have in small communities and those most isolated communities. Our department has been working with the communities, with the leadership, with the Housing Corporation. I’d just like to highlight that we’ve met with district education authorities, the council and also with the superintendent this past couple of weeks in Norman Wells. We did highlight housing as one of the priorities of our discussion, and there have been a couple of options that were brought forward.

Mr...