Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation some questions.

I raised the issue about the core needs income threshold and the application guidelines for constituents. I just wanted to know if there is an initiative out there that we have lots of homes and they need to be given away this fiscal year, how the process is going and what kind of special accommodations are they making when they are applying the guidelines there, Mr. Speaker. Are they going to stick to the old guidelines or will they be more flexible this year in terms of allocating units and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to make a statement today about family violence shelters in the NWT. The five NWT shelters provide safety and support for women and children fleeing family violence. In some cases the shelters provide outreach programs for women and the children who have witnessed abuse programs in the communities. The five shelters are: Aimayunga Women and Emergency Foster Care Shelter in Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik Transition House, Alison McAteer House in Yellowknife, Hay River Family Support Centre, and Sutherland House in Fort Smith.

These shelters have been assisted for the...

The Minister said soon. Does that mean he’ll begin some work during the winter months evaluating those communities? It doesn’t have to be a big thing. I think if they evaluate one community, pick one like Wrigley or any one of my communities in my riding and the concerns are going to be the same there. There doesn’t have to be a big study. They can wait and do their five-year evaluation. However, I think that the needs of a community like Wrigley have to really be examined and evaluated, because they are experiencing higher costs than the O and M that’s being provided in the New Deal. There...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Sounds like there’s going to be a re-evaluation of the core need income threshold or the guidelines. Perhaps the Minister can tell me if that’s something they’re planning for April 1st, or is that something that the Minister and department can apply for this intake season, which the application was October 15th.

Mr. Speaker, I guess one of the single biggest issues that constituents have raised with me is that the people that can afford it and have the good incomes, perhaps double incomes in the smaller communities, are actually being rejected from the applications because they are actually making too much money. But because we have such an arrears with our Housing Corporation, Mr. Speaker, I think these are the type of people that we should have within our Housing Corporation programs. These are the people that are hard working. They are able to make mortgage payments, and thereby the corporation...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I certainly have been working with the school boards as we progress with some type of plan for the school grounds.

Once again, is there any provision for extra funding or resources to help maintain the school grounds during the summer months?

In the case of Fort Simpson, at the start of the school year that certainly didn’t appear to be the case. I was just wondering, I did contact the Minister’s office as well as the Minister of Public Works on it and I’d just like to know what exactly happened. Have they reviewed what occurred during the summer? Will they come up with a good plan for next summer?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I still have more yet to do. I’d also like to recognize the hardworking community health rep, Ms. Gloria Hardisty, from Wrigley. As well, once in a while we get somebody who gets their name mentioned about three or four times, Ms. Karen McLeod of Fort Liard. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[Translation] It seems like it’s going to be a little hard for aboriginal people in the Nahendeh riding...[Translation ends]

…has managed to increase its available and public homeownership housing stock. This is very good news. Unfortunately, in regard to homeownership, there appears to be problems matching available homes with residents who can purchase them. Residents are frustrated at the narrow programming guidelines of the Housing Corporation.

It seems that the people who have a decent income and can afford to buy and maintain a home are the ones who cannot access...

I, too, commend the parents’ groups for the work that’s been done. Next coming summer, what exactly would be the plan in place? I know that Public Works and Services have a lot of priorities during the summer months as well. Is there any provision with the education boards or ministerial office for part-time summer work for somebody to maintain those grounds?