Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, can I confirm with the Minister that this is the right segment of the budget in which to ask the question about the agriculture strategy implementation? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation's budget that we were debating in the main estimates is going to decrease in this fiscal year, yet the action plan the Minister has produced says that there will be spending of $20 million in the next fiscal year. My question is: where is that money from the action plan going to come from and when? Thank you.

Thank you very much to the Minister for his responses. Nothing further.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the last sitting the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation tabled her long-awaited response to persistent core housing need experienced by one in five households in the NWT. I put forward a motion in June 2016 with the support of my colleagues that called on the Housing Corporation to reduce core need in housing by 2 per cent a year for four years. This investment will bring the NWT in line with national levels. The motion called for a plan to achieve this goal. The Towards Level Ground report is the basis of that plan.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand the need for new fiscal arrangements and to make those a priority. I guess what I am less sure about is the need to spend more money trying to revive the dormant offshore. Can the Minister confirm that that is not something that this office will be doing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I happen to be sitting quite close to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, and I am the vice chair. Neither of us have a recollection of receiving any information on this topic. We would appreciate receiving that information at the Minister's earliest convenience. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I'm looking for another commitment, and that is that the Minister will direct the rental office in its annual reports to track this indicator, which is not only the waiting time for applications, but the lag between applications and court orders in future reports. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I note that there is no increase in money in the budget for this item. What enhancements is the Minister talking about? Thank you.

I appreciate the response from the Minister. Can the Minister tell us whether he has allocated additional resources to this office?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this exchange underlines the problem of communication with ECE, particularly with the Minister. I'm now going to ask for a fourth time if he will advocate for indexing this benefit so that the value of it keeps up to inflation. Thank you.