Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, the authority has significant flexibility in some areas when it comes to funding and the $33 million that they administer. They have made some determinations already. They’ve met with the NGOs but, as I just indicated to the Member, I will talk to our department and we will get in touch with Yellowknife Health and Social Services on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is an e-mail in my in basket upstairs that I haven’t had a chance to look at, but apparently we’ve got the first specific word from the federal government on the portion of money as it applies to waiting times. I just noticed it this morning. It’s fairly long and I haven’t had a chance to look at it, but that’s the one piece so far that they have agreed to. This is on the Canada health transfer side. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, in Yellowknife, extra funding has been provided to fund 20 additional beds, 10 at the Centre for Northern Families and 10 at the Salvation Army. This is for individuals and/or families for the winter months. In addition, through the Housing Corporation, they have worked with the YWCA to provide three additional units at the YWCA to address the needs of homeless individuals and families for what is left of the winter months. That’s been in place for the winter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is the start of a collaborative effort within government, many departments to coordinate a response because there is overlap and this is a complex issue. If you keep in mind the United Nations definition where they distinguish between absolute homelessness and relative homelessness, absolute homelessness is somewhat more concrete and you can deal with the fact that people have no houses to stay in on a short-term basis. The longer term more difficult issue that has a tremendous connection in a host of areas is the issue of relative homelessness...

Madam Chair, we do have a contract and we do have in there clauses that allow for cost increases for things like the forced growth items that we experience as well. We negotiate a cost and we’ve changed how we negotiate. I believe it’s a five-year term, but I’ll have to double-check that. I know it has clauses built in that reflect the increased cost of business. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it’s too early for us to determine the success but, yes, the instruction has been issued already. The processes are in place with the authorities in terms of referrals. We have it set up where they work through Stanton. So the medevacs and medical travel are coordinated. We’ve taken the steps and we’re monitoring, of course, the usage and the cost. I’ll be able to report to committee, probably in the fall when we come back to start reviewing business plans, where we are and what the numbers are telling us.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I would be happy to provide Social Programs with the background work that led us to this position.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What I can tell the Member is this additional funding has been put in. I haven’t been made aware if this is deemed insufficient or there is a further crisis that’s not going to able to be handled in the short term. So I can’t answer the Member in any greater detail than I have already given her in terms of the current status or the waiting lists. My information is we have moved ahead on this and the money has been put to good use by the community of Yellowknife. It’s also been used to a certain extent in other communities that have required it on a case-by-case...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the money that was allocated, some went to fund additional beds at the Centre for Northern Families, as well as the Salvation Army, to get us over the winter months.

The Member raises an interesting conundrum, as it were, or dilemma that we have as a government. As she has indicated, for whatever reasons, families can be without housing because they are in arrears or they have been evicted. Then it has become a homelessness or child welfare issue. So we have some short-term funding to get us over the winter in Yellowknife with northern families in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister has laid out the basic facts very clearly. I’ve been tasked, as the lead Minister, to deal with the homelessness issue and I’m also the chair of the social envelope Ministers and we collaboratively got together to look at how we’re going to deal with this issue, which is quite complex. Our initial focus was to deal with what they call absolute homelessness for the coming winter, which was those folks who don’t have accommodations at all, a warm place to sleep at night. At the same time, the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is...