Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that we hear a lot about, I mean in all my time here, and having had the opportunity to be the Minister of Housing and work in the housing field for over half of my life, I mean I understand some of the challenges that the housing across the NWT is facing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that I will put the condition of our units up against anywhere in the country. There are some challenges. Is it perfect? No. Does it need some work? Yes, it does. It’s an ongoing process. For those that have been around for a while and been involved in housing for a...

Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to meet with any community government across the Northwest Territories. We have a good working relationship with the NWT Association of Communities. They understand that anything that happens within their communities ultimately they have control over, so they are more than full partners. I will agree to meet with mayor and council next time the Member invites us to his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will have to have that discussion with the appropriate departments as to what the community of Enterprise has to do. I could talk at length about what the community of Enterprise has to do to access a lot of the MACA programs and assistance of the MACA staff? As far as what they have to do to access the other programs, I will have to have that conversation with the appropriate departments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Nunakput has already recognized some of them, but I would like to recognize the United States Riding States Leaders Tour is in Yellowknife. They’re learning about our territory and they’re briefly observing our proceeding today. I would like to use this opportunity to recognize the Honourable Jeramey Anderson, representative from Mississippi; the Honourable Andrew Bumgardner is the representative from Connecticut. The Honourable Travis Bennett, representative from New Hampshire. The Honourable Drew Christensen, representative from...

Mr. Speaker, as far as jobs go, that is something that they would have to take up with the proponent. I do know that we have been engaged with the proponent since about 2011. We have supported both the hamlet and the proponent on their land application. We assisted the hamlet with their land acquisitions by-law, and we also worked with the hamlet to determine the fair value for land sale, and we participated in a number of meetings with the hamlet council. There are some opportunities there when the pellet mill goes into Enterprise. There will be, obviously, some revenue for that that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because it is within the municipality of Enterprise, they would be a full participant in any discussions that take place with regards to any type of development or initiatives that might be happening in the community of Enterprise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Bob McLeod will be absent from the House today to attend the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Innovation, Science and Economic Development meeting in Ottawa. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is absolutely correct, I don’t think the sporting organizations would say we want to water down our investment any further, much like if you asked the arts community if they want to spread that $2 million plus they get between another 30 different organizations. I don’t think they’d be in favour of that as well.

I mean, there’s opportunities here to get some feedback and I will commit to the Member that I’ll spend the next little while exploring these options a little further and then we’ll continue to have a dialogue. I’ll talk to the sporting organizations during my...

Mr. Speaker, there is always a broader opportunity to have further discussion on this. We feel that the investment that’s made by the government through ECE into the arts through ITI is fairly significant and to the point of, well, $2 million, I think, through ECE. I’m not exactly sure what the ITI numbers are. To say that this money is going directly to sports, it actually goes to the overall physical activity and healthy choices activity for people across the Northwest Territories. This program, I think, was $5 million that we’re looking to distribute, and that would go to our four sporting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Bob McLeod will be absent from the House today to chair the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group in Ottawa, Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.