Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just looking under Fort Simpson. We have lots of major retrofits and they are probably very needed mid-life retrofits, et cetera. But in our infrastructure acquisition plan, I don’t see one new unit, so maybe if the Minister can address the reason for it. Is there an additional plan or strategy that they have in terms of adding additional units to Fort Simpson? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I would like to continue with NWT Housing Corporation as well as the Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Thank you.

I was just wondering, I am sure that the Minister and his staff have looked at the federal budget when they talk about aboriginal housing. I don’t know if it’s specifically mentioned in this new budget about off-reserve housing at all or how it impacts our Territory. Maybe I will get the Minister’s thoughts on that. Is there ability for us to access any aboriginal dollars from the federal government or does it have to come, or is it our only reserve? It might be just Hay River and, of course, Fort Smith. Are they the only ones that have the ability to access any of those federal dollars?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I know that much has been said about providing housing for staff. It’s something that’s been pressing for our regions and communities for many, many years and I’m pleased to see that there’s a line item in here. I’m just curious, Mr. Chair, about how do people access this funding. Is it already designated for the different regions and communities that are out there or is it proposal-specific? I understand that the...I think it might have been the education council in Nahendeh or the Dehcho education council may have had a specific proposal. I don’t know if they...

I would also ask the Minister at this time for any assistance accessing any federal dollars that can be used for this fund. I’m not too sure what specifically is in the federal budget but I’m sure that his staff can assist us in identifying the exact program that may fit this proposal. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement and ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources about the biomass initiative and the Biomass Strategy, if he can share some of the details around that. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. During my recent tour of Nahendeh I met with the chief and leadership of Jean Marie River. They are very enthusiastic about becoming more self-sufficient by using their own natural resources. It was interesting to listen to their ideas about using alternative energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The community wants to install a biomass cogeneration unit in Jean Marie River to produce power for the community. This unit could also be designed to use residual wood from the sawmill to produce wood pellets. In turn, the wood pellets could be used as...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be voting in favour of the motion. That is something that my constituency and residents of my constituency have always said, is that when they go to apply for NWT Housing Corporation programming, often they are saying they are making too much. This frustrates Nahendeh residents to no end, because the reality is that there are dual income households out there. There is a good reason for that, Mr. Chairman. It is only because they are trying to address their high cost of living and they are working hard to achieve those ends. A lot of them, too, are not only...

Yes, I just wanted to raise with the Minister that there is a desire out there, maybe create, like I said, maybe a line item that can help our aboriginal communities. Basically we are off-reserve housing and just keep that in mind for any discussions or any new announcements on federal initiatives and how they plan to role that out. I know somehow our government should be able to make the case to the federal government that there must be a way in order for us to access those additional dollars that will certainly go a long ways in helping us out there, Mr. Chairman. Thanks.

Hopefully, we can get around some of these issues, because that’s something that I know in the community of Fort Liard are challenged with. That annually, teachers are hired in the springtime but they show up in the fall time only to find out they’re having challenges with the units that are available. It’s something that I would urge the Minister and government to try to put in place and even create some units this coming summer. Once again, I am glad to see that line item there. Maybe I can shift gears here a little bit.

I know that Mr. Yakeleya was talking specifically about urban native...