Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then, again I must ask, what is the Minister of Housing, what request and proposal is he taking to the Cabinet in the next few days in relation to the suspension of the seniors' housing rent scale? What is he taking? What’s being suspended? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I just need to understand, then, exactly what the Minister is going to ask the Cabinet to approve. What is he is going to bring forward in his proposal? Is he going to bring forward a proposal to suspend rent subsidies for seniors under the present means of determining rent for going forward or for retroactive? What is the Minister going to ask the Cabinet to approve? What policy?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that sounds like we’re going to be ready to examine options by the fall; we’re not going to be ready to implement any solutions. So could the Minister at least confirm that he thinks these issues will be resolved and addressed and a clear framework laid out during the life of this Assembly at least? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a very comprehensive and thick report on this subject has already come out. Why is it going to take to the fall for this government to respond? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my information is that Public Works and Services in fact has not undertaken a review of the condition of the Diamond Jenness Secondary School, and given our very extensive debate in this House yesterday over leaving these things to the last minute and then being forced into stop-gap measures at a very high price, I would think that it would be prudent of the Minister to follow up with the Minister of PWS again and ensure that this review gets taken, gets undertaken forthwith. Will the Minister commit to that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to mention my husband, Rick, who is also a wonderful father to my children. He was good with the kids when they were little and that's why I know he'll make a super grandfather, but we'll have to keep you posted on that front.

---Laughter

No pressure, kids. To you, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues who are fathers and grandfathers here in this House, to the fathers of Hay River and to the fathers of the Northwest Territories, Happy Father's Day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I said I was going to ask about the transportation contract for the construction of winter roads, but in fact the Minister had already given us a pretty good commitment in a meeting this morning so I'm not pursuing that. So I'm going to go to Mr. Krutko instead, the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, there has been a project in the works in Hay River for many months related to seniors' housing. It has been called the Whispering Willows Seniors Complex, and as of late we haven't heard much of a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, I will look forward to seeing that. I think we are allowed to ask hypothetical questions in Committee of the Whole. If you were building a building just for your government client departments, would these amounts remain consistent? Are they just taking up large amounts because they are in an old building with big rooms or under the standards of space that would be allowable to them, how does that compare with what they have now versus what they would mean under PWS standards for allowable sizes for offices and common areas, et cetera? Thank you.

Just a brief point to the motion, Mr. Chairman, and following up with what Mr. Braden said, we would like to pride ourselves on making good decisions and having good judgment as Members of this House. This is taking away our ability to do that and I can’t believe that anybody feels good about this decision. I can’t believe that anybody on this side of the House feels good about it. Nobody on this side can feel good about it. I bet you even the folks at Public Works and Services don’t feel good about this, or at Education, Culture and Employment. I think anybody who had to be part of bringing...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When we left here last night, we had a few questions that we were looking for some answers to. Some of the ones that come to mind I wanted to know. I wanted to know the existing square footage of the Deh Cho Hall, the amount of that square footage which is now occupied by client departments of the GNWT and the amount of square footage occupied by non-government organizations who are co-habitants with government departments. That’s my first question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.