Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, this work is underway as we speak. One of the things that has happened since we started this new Assembly is.... There has been a working group that brings in the LHOs of districts and headquarters to start looking at these policies. Some of them date back almost 35, 40 years.

While I accept with a degree of good grace the rejection of the Member to my offer, the offer is there to have her go over to the Housing Corporation, and she can look at the walls and shelves of binders. She can let us know what copies she’d like, and they’ll definitely be provided.

Mr. Speaker, there are policies — some in great number, some of considerable age, which is why we’re doing the policy review — and I make the commitment to the Member that she can have access to any Housing Corp policies she would like.

Mr. Speaker, there was some funding from the federal government that helped, in fact, build structures like Bailey House. It helped us put some money into homeless initiatives in small communities to help cover off those that are needed when it is cold and freezing outside. So we have put what money we have been able to get to use.

Unfortunately, what tends to happen when there is a federal announcement…. It is done on a per capita basis, and the amount of money that actually comes to the Northwest Territories is very small.

Mr. Speaker, there’s a distinction we have to make as we talk about the homeless. Or are we talking about individuals who may be hard to house? They are, I believe, in almost every community, including the one I come from. They have had every opportunity. Their families don’t want them staying in their houses. They have addictions issues. They have lifestyle issues. So if there is an issue of not enough houses for people, there are waiting lists for public housing.

We do struggle with the issue of hard-to-house, where they have often had programs, and they have often left the houses in...

Mr. Speaker, I can see a number of people from my constituency of Thebacha: Mr. Al Dumont, Mrs. Lynn Dumont, Paul McAdams, Loretta Laviolette, Marilyn Napier and Ethel Chalifoux. I’d like to welcome you to the Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity today as the lead Minister to provide an update on the activities of the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee. The Refocusing Government initiative is one of five strategic initiatives that form the backbone of our government’s strategic plan. These five strategic initiatives have their foundation in the vision, goals and priorities we developed as a Caucus.

The actions planned under this initiative are to conduct program review, change the GNWT’s approach to infrastructure, improve human resource management in the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, those documents are very concrete. We’ve taken to heart the issue raised by the Auditor General about how these processes work. We need to better connect with district offices, with the LHO and with headquarters. We’ll work at that. We’re looking at the processes in terms of making sure they’re clear and applied fairly wherever you are.

I’d just add at this point as well that as we look at the amalgamation of health, social services, education and housing boards into a community service model, multi-purpose board, that is also going to bring together the ability to better...

I’d be happy to sit down with the Member and have the Member go to the Housing Corporation. She can pick which ones she’d like. We’d be happy to make sure she gets copies of those.

Mr. Speaker, I’d be very interested to sit down with the Member if he wants to talk about his particular communities in Nunakput. As well, the Housing Corporation would be interested to sit down, along with the other departments that have a role to play here through the business-planning process, to take a look at what’s currently there. There is a small community homelessness fund. There’s other funding in the larger centres.

Clearly, it is an issue, and yes, it involves families; it involves communities. The government can be of assistance. It also involves individuals who, at the end of the...

The Housing Corporation just released their Framework for Action to lay out the plan for the next number of years. It’s been to the appropriate committee. We’ve received feedback with some suggestions that we’re going to look at. We’re going to look at improving that document as we move forward. There will be the business planning process coming up as well that will allow us to further refine that document.