Kevin A. Menicoche

Mr. Speaker, I certainly would like to take the Minister’s commitment and move forward with that. Maybe I can ask the Minister what would be the next steps on following through on this commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people from Fort Liard have some serious concerns about social services in their community. The community needs a second social worker to support the one that is currently there.

Minister Lee and I travelled to Fort Liard in the fall of 2010. She had heard from the concerned citizens about this. There is a second social worker. However, due to medical reasons, she has been off work now for about eight months. Deh Cho Health and Social Services did have a plan for extra coverage, but it is difficult to do from Fort Simpson.

There has been a case where a previous social...

Mr. Chairman, I will thank the Minister for going that extra effort and keep us in the loop as the situation develops. It is just any situation, certainly, I do have.

Early today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the lack of social worker issue as well. I don’t know if it is appropriate to this page, Mr. Chairman, but it is probably a few pages down, but a provision of a health and social services worker for our communities is much needed and the people have asked for... They are looking forward to it only because having a staff member in the community, in the larger communities, to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to get a comment on something new that the federal government is doing or when it comes to the Metis health benefits. They are actually changing the definition of the Metis in the federal government system. I am wondering if the Minister and her department is aware of that and, if so, how much of an impact it would have on our health budget and how it will affect the delivery of our services to our Metis membership out there in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement. The people of Fort Liard had serious concerns about the social worker position. Minister Lee had accompanied me to Fort Liard and we heard the residents at that time. They were very concerned that the social worker was away for about three months for medical leave, Mr. Speaker. We had asked if we can fill it with a casual worker position, but the Minister responded to myself, and I responded to the community, that they will not fill this position on a casual basis. I still don’t understand why. The residents still don’t...

Mr. Speaker, I had used that question only to show the Minister that there are new techniques and materials out there. BluWood is the new standard in construction that actually resists mould in homes. Can the Minister direct his department to start looking at mould-free construction in homes, the new materials that are out there? I think that would go a long way for our clients and constituents, if we start constructing our homes using the mould-free method. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke about mould-free home constructions and mould-free techniques for building homes. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation what policies and guidelines are currently in place for our Housing Corporation to do this initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to ask the Minister to direct his department to change some policies and guidelines that we do have mould-free construction techniques and materials and investigate it thoroughly, because that BluWood is almost the same cost as regular wood that we are using. I don’t think it would add to the construction of new homes, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister to start directing his department and looking at policies and guidelines. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Minister is aware of some of the techniques that we are using, but as I have learned yesterday, there are other new materials out there. Does he know what BluWood is? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, attended the Northern Construction Tradeshow yesterday at lunchtime. As Mr. Hawkins had indicated, Mr. Holmes from Holmes on Homes was in attendance and gave a speech there. I really didn’t go there for the speech. I actually went there, Mr. Speaker, to congratulate a niece of mine, Ms. Tyra Moses, who got an award for top marks in the second and third-year electrical trade program.

However, the speech did catch my attention, Mr. Speaker. He spoke on many topics, and his experiences and ideas on providing safe and reliable homes to the public were...