Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act, be read for the third time.

Mr. Speaker, the Member has provided me with a lot of detail and she’s looking for some answers on some of the detail. If I had an opportunity to meet with the Member and listen to some of her concerns I’d be in a better position to supply the detail that’s she looking for, but I can assure the Member that we do what we can to assist those folks that are operating units. We have money that we sometimes do allocate to them, on behalf of CMHC, for some of the repairs on their unit. I would imagine if the Housing Corporation said the unit had to be larger, then we would have to look at maybe how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that particular information right now but I’d be happy to get it and relay it on to the Member. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the fact that there are some good ideas over there, we don’t have to say it. Obviously, the fact that we’re willing to sit and meet with Members and try and address some of the concerns shows them that there are some good ideas and we’re willing to listen. I will commit to the Member that we’re willing to listen to any ideas, any suggestions. It helps us do our job, it obviously helps the Members do their jobs, and most importantly, it helps the folks out there that we’re representing. I will commit to the Member that I’d be more than happy to sit down and meet with her. I will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, the NWTAC, as the Member had mentioned in his Member’s statement, had passed a motion asking for the municipalities to have the authority to levy hotel taxes. That being the case, we obviously have to listen to that and do our consultations and see what support is out there. This was something that was tried, I believe, in 2000, to levy a hotel tax, and a lot of the stakeholders that were opposed to it at that time are now speaking out in support of it. It’s one obviously we’d have to have a look at and see how we can go forward from there. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will commit to the Member that we will look at all the different situations. In a lot of the smaller communities, I think we rely a lot on the elders that are in there, because they seem to know before anybody else that a storm is coming and they warn folks. I can assure the Member that a warning system could be one of the issues that is looked at by this working group. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I blame that lapse of concentration on age. We will continue to monitor and work with the local municipal governments to deal with some of the affects of the storm that has been had on their communities. Obviously, now that this is over, they can go over the situation and see where improvements can be made. But I can commit to the Member that we will see what we can do as a department to do our part and work with the communities to ensure that they are well prepared in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 18, An Act to Repeal the Settlements Act, be read for the third time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government recognizes that improving the quality of housing services provided to residents will help reduce the cost of living in communities across the Northwest Territories. Today I would like to provide an update to Members on the work of the NWTHC and ECE in improving the assessment process for public housing rents, specifically our success in completing reassessments for tenants who wish to have a review of the rent assessed to them in recent years.

The decrease in rent assessments at that time can largely be attributed to an increase in incomplete applications...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When putting together this act we depended a lot on feedback we got from standing committee, and standing committee had moved a motion to include this and we respect that so we’ve included it. Therefore, we will be voting against the motion. Thank you.