Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would this discussion with the committees include any plan about how this government plans to have adequate recreational facilities in our communities and their long-term plans for that, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Normally, I would follow up my stunning Member’s statement with a grilling and analytical question to the appropriate Minister. However, I have constituents and indeed a whole community, the community of Nahanni Butte, who are waiting on the Minister of MACA and this government’s decision on the creation of a gymnasium in Nahanni Butte.

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Mr. Speaker, these changes, although not intended, will target aboriginals more than any other group in the NWT. For example, in one community in my riding there are no aboriginal families being given assistance in owning their own homes. The reality is many people in the communities are living eight to 10 people per house.

As long as I can remember, housing has been a primary issue in the North. Communities all over the North are experiencing overcrowded conditions, long waiting lists and aging units. The enormous strain affects the communities and the individuals in many ways. During a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear that response from the Minister of MACA. Indeed, with the federal government passing the budget, there is all this money that we have been waiting on; the gas money, the green money, the infrastructure money, the non-tax-based money. I am sure we can find some room in here for a gymnasium for Nahanni Butte. Perhaps the Minister can tell this House again at what stage the planning is at. In the springtime, he committed to a class D estimate. Is it going to be done this year?

At what stage, Mr. Speaker, is the planning and the class D estimate for the gymnasium project in Nahanni Butte?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mrs. Laureen Donaldson, a resident of Wrigley, NT. It’s nice to see her here today. Thank you very much.

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Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been approached recently by my constituents regarding the NWT Housing Corporation's possible policy changes regarding residential home loan guarantees. These changes will dramatically affect the accessibility and affordability of homes. Families' self-sufficiency within the communities have always been a top priority to me and the GNWT.

The NWT Housing Corporation must consult residents of the NWT when considering such drastic policy changes. The NWT Housing Corporation has not approached the local...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today with questions for the Minister of MACA. I sent a question down to research and they advised me that I had mentioned Nahanni Butte 54 times, the gymnasium 29 times, so all together that's 83 times. That's almost once for every constituent in Nahanni Butte, Mr. Speaker…

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…except I'm missing three constituents, so I’m going to have to conclude this sitting by asking three more questions of the Minister.

---Laughter

Begging the chair's indulgence, I said I am astounded five times, so I'm going to have to say that two more times, because there are...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for North Slave, that the motion be amended by striking out “that Bill 17 be read for the third time” and substituting “that Bill 17 be not now read a third time, but that it be read a third time this day three months hence.”

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Thank you, Madam Chair. I am certainly in favour of not campaigning in the snow.

---Laughter

But I am not really in favour of a fixed election date. I won’t be voting for this motion.