Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to acknowledge Walt Humphries, winner of the Distinguished Service Award at last month's Chamber of Mines gala.

Following his graduation from the Haileybury School of Mines, Walt made his way to Yellowknife 50 years ago to establish himself as a prospector. That is still his business. He is also an avid promoter of prospecting, having taught 50 courses across the North. He is a fixture of the Yellowknife Historical Society with a passion for preserving our mining heritage, but perhaps he is best-known for his newspaper column, "Tales from the Dump," and for...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Finance Minister for that. I am going to just ask the same kind of question in a different way. What capacity does the health authority or do the collective health authorities have to reimburse the Department of Finance for the payroll owing over a quite large number of years? It is, in my understanding, well in excess of $100 million. What capacity do the health authorities have to pay that money back? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Residents of the Northwest Territories are experiencing a housing crisis. That is not news to the 900 individuals and families on the NWT Housing Corporation's waiting list, and it is not news to the 6,308 households that have housing problems, meaning that their house is not in good repair, not big enough for their family size, or not affordable or some combination of these three. The news is that the housing crisis got worse in the 18th Assembly, despite the Housing Corporation's best intentions for improvement.

Mr. Speaker, making public housing available and private...

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the Finance Minister. Pick a point in time. We understand that this is not fixed. Of the $135 million that you are seeking in borrowing for cash flow purposes, how much of that will be reimbursed by the end of the fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you. Because I wear this earphone all the time, I just want to caution the Minister of Finance that she is talking before the red light goes on, so some of her answers are not being recorded. Having said that, I wonder if the Minister could give us a breakdown of the components of the cash-flow issue for which the government is seeking $135,000 in borrowing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. In September 2017, the NWT Housing Corporation released a three-year action plan with the title "Towards Level Ground: Addressing Persistent Core Need in the Northwest Territories." This plan responded to a 2016 motion supported by Regular Members that called for a comprehensive and fully costed plan to reduce housing problems identified in the 2014 community survey. Please provide a report on the first two years of the action plan, including how many households the Housing Corporation...

That answer surprises me because I thought that, during the 18th Assembly, the department had rolled back on the total amount of surpluses that school boards were able to keep. I am sure the Minister has given me accurate information, but it is certainly much bigger than I expected it to be.

Onto the question of the aging schools, all of the schools in Yellowknife, except for Allain St-Cyr and the re-built St. Joe's, are aging. What is the long-term plan of the Department to assist the board with maintenance and replacement of their schools?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I am sure the new Minister is aware that schools in Yellowknife are aging and maintenance costs are increasing. Most recently, YK1 has been forced to make an emergency purchase of a boiler at Mildred Hall School in my constituency, at a cost of $90,000, nine-zero thousand dollars.

Trustees say that money spent on the boiler will take money away from education. My first question is: what help can ECE give YK1 to help pay for the new boiler? Mahsi.

Thank you to the Minister for that response. I'd like the Minister to answer whether she is prepared to revisit the Housing Corporation's decision not to add any more units to its inventory to meet the waiting list of over 900 households.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. As I mentioned in my statement, residents of Yellowknife and in communities across the NWT are facing what I describe as a housing crisis. Housing problems have more than doubled in the last five years. Can the Minister tell us whether she considers the current situation a crisis? Thank you.