Julie Green

Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no reason to sneer at the small enterprises that will create a broader economic base, greater stability, greater employment for dollar of input, and greater economic multiplier for dollar earned. These jobs won't look so small when the diamond mines have closed. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

No one could say that the Minister is not getting the information out there. Answering the questions, that is another story. Another means to ensure that seniors have appropriate housing in Yellowknife is to assist them with retrofitting their homes, and this is a very cost-effective solution, more cost-effective than providing a whole new place to live. The budget for the CARE program, as one example, for the whole of the NWT is only half a million dollars, so can the Minister tell us how many seniors' households were assisted with retrofits in the last fiscal year?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for NWT housing. As I said in my statement, there have been no new units for seniors built in Yellowknife during this Assembly, while, at the same time, the population of seniors has continued to grow rapidly. Can the Minister tell us what plans are in place with funding attached to meet those needs going forward? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. At the end of the day, how does the demand for funding for seniors, retrofits, and other kinds of housing initiatives compare with the demand for it? How does the demand line up with the money available? What is the gap between those two? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister's wide-ranging answer, but, if he could provide some specific information about whether there are any projects that are in the hopper with funding attached to meet seniors' needs at this time, that is what I am after.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Seniors are the heart of my constituency and, through the next decade, their population will grow by 134 households in Yellowknife each year. The fact that the seniors population is growing is not news. Our lack of preparedness to meet their needs is today's headline.

The NWT Housing Corporation has a suite of programs for seniors to repair their homes and complete retrofits so they can stay in their homes as they age. That is all good, obviously. The problem is that, while the seniors population has been increasing, program funding has not. The same amount of money is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question concerns a constant complaint I hear about the open consumption of liquor on the streets downtown. Can the Minister say whether he has a plan of his own or with his cabinet colleagues to address this issue? Mahsi.

I appreciate that update. Is part of the problem also that there are commitments that the neighbours want that the government can't sign off on?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I live downtown in my constituency. That is my choice and my pleasure, and there are many advantages to doing so, but it is not always easy. I pick up beer cans and liquor bottles almost daily, I have helped clean up after someone senselessly smashed a car window, and I assisted a man injured in a fight, and that is just in the last six months.

Despite these issues, I think that life downtown is better than it was four years ago, and here is why.

The previous mayor of Yellowknife created a working group to respond to the needs of people on the street; people who may be...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I find it a bit rich that my colleagues are here now excoriating the Minister for phasing in this fee increase when that was the agreement that we came to. On a $500,000 house, the increase after three years would be $350 on the land transfer. The person buying the $500,000 house would be spending an extra $350. It is my argument that if someone can afford $500,000 dollars for a house, they can afford an additional $350 for the land transfer tax.

Further, I don't want my colleagues to lose sight of the fact that this is an omnibus bill. If it is rejected, we lose the...