Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize the accomplishment of four young women from my constituency who are now enrolled in the nursing program at Aurora College here in Yellowknife.

Three of them completed high school at the Thomas Simpson School in Fort Simpson. They are: Ms. Mallory Hardisty from Jean Marie River, Ms. Amanda Bradbury from Fort Simpson, Ms. Tiiu Cli from Wrigley and Ms. Leanne Niziol, formerly of Wrigley.

I am very proud to see our young people pursuing college and university education and I hope that they enjoy the challenges that this education will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs on the issue that I raised in the spring session. It was about land taxes, the local band, the municipality as well as federal lands. There’s been an issue and it still hasn’t been resolved. I’d like to ask the Minister, has the department taken the lead in this process lately and what is the current status? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a very noble cause that my colleagues have raised in terms of moving a motion asking to create a law to ban cell phone use while driving. For myself, Mr. Speaker, I’m never in favour of more laws if we don’t need it. I believe, when it comes to the safety of our constituents, our people of the Northwest Territories, that safety awareness, safety training can create a safety culture, Mr. Speaker. Safety does not mean creating more laws. Laws are about penalizing our people with fines and even imprisonment. When we go to that extent, I don’t think it benefits...

Actually I was quite happy with the first answer when he said it still existed.

---Laughter

I think I had an elder from Fort Liard that applied for it. He was basically told no, but certainly it’s something that the people want to see reinstituted and I certainly support that and I would like to convey that to the Minister.

So just once again, if he can confirm to me that there are some guidelines or there is a program that can still fit the needs of the Elders on the Land Initiative. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement on the Elders on the Land Initiative. I know that the NWT Housing Corporation changed their programming to basically four programs and when this occurred, Mr. Speaker, the Elders on the Land Initiative was nowhere to be seen. I would just like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation, what prompted the department to take away this program that was well used by the communities in my riding? Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I wasn’t clear on what evaluation the Minister was talking about. Are they re-evaluating the four programs? I think for me the more important thing is to evaluate the use and uptake on the old Elders on the Land Initiative, to look at it and reinstitute it, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister include that in the review that he’s speaking about? Thank you.

So the Minister has indicated that if the elder chooses and is approved through the current guidelines, that he can build his house on the land. I think part of the parameters of the original program was that if it was an elder, it was a forgivable loan and they paid the freight to his traditional lands where he wanted to build his housing unit. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about housing for elders who continue to spend most of their time living in the bush. These are people like hunters and trappers who are usually independent and self-sufficient.

A few years ago, the NWT Housing Corporation had a program called Elders on the Land Initiative. It provided financial support to assist seniors who live on the land rather than in the community. They could replace their existing dwelling with a modest, simply constructed shelter. This program helped elders to maintain independent traditional lifestyles in a...

That is the kind of flexibility that we need with the NWT Housing Program. Fort Liard is a community of about 500 people. There is overcrowding. There are homes with about two or three families. They are waiting for these units. My issue is that a lot of people do have arrears, Mr. Speaker. Some of them are decades old, from some old programming, but it still remains on the books. I would like to ask the Minister, when they come across this issue, can they develop a strategy to address this so that we get people into houses and not let an old arrear bill be a hindrance to access our affordable...

The Minister is absolutely right; there is ongoing work and some of the parameters around some of the stimulus funding has always been shovel ready, which means all the groundwork and all the costing and all the preplanning pretty much had to be done. I look forward to the work that’s going to go in putting a package together, at least assessment-wise, for the Fort Simpson library.

Just in terms of looking forward, will our government be accessing this fund next fiscal year? Thank you.