Robert C. McLeod

These have not been identified yet. These are with the public housing inventory with the Yellowknife Housing Authority and they would identify the projects. We will budget the money and they will identify the projects.

The money that Tsiigehtchic’s getting is mostly on the O and M side, but the Member raises a fairly good point going into future years. That’s something that I’ll commit to the Member that I will take up with my officials and see, well, first of all, about the need in Tsiigehtchic and… But I will commit to the Member that I will take it up with the officials and have a discussion with them, because we can’t be going three or four years into the future and not see an investment of any kind in any of our communities. I’ll have that discussion with the officials. Thank you.

That process was during the 15th. I can’t speak for the amount of time it took for it to go over then.

Being a Regular Member in the 15th Assembly, there were a lot of motions coming forward to transfer the responsibility of assessments back to the LHOs. One of the first things that we did as the 16th Assembly was try to get the responsibilities back to the LHOs, because we heard the two motions that we heard from the people across the Northwest Territories. We heard from LHOs that thought it should be back with the LHOs.

The transfer of the money back to the Housing Corporation is an item that...

Mr. Chair, we have heard of stories where a contractor would be taking a unit apart and are approached for some of the materials that are coming apart. For the most part, I mean, it’s the contractor’s responsibility to dispose of this material and if they can give it away or if somebody comes and takes it, then that would be something to do.

We could probably have the discussion of maybe making it a condition of the contracts where houses are being retrofitted that they allow people to come and take the material. I’ve heard of cases where contractors allow people to actually take the unit apart...

Mr. Speaker, obviously, we’d have to look at the regional rates first and see how they work out. There will be, in some areas, where the rents in some of the communities will be higher to balance off the rental rate. I would suggest we look at the regional model first and see how that works and if there’s an appetite further down the road to look at a territorial-wide model, then that may be something for Housing in the future to consider. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is referring to the regional rates that I was referring to earlier. This is something that we are just in the process of considering right now. It’s something that we have to explore a little further. I mean, we’ve heard the argument on the difference in the rental from one small community to one that’s 20 minutes away. As far as using the Beaufort-Delta as a pilot project, once we decide if this is one that’s worth pursuing, then maybe we have to look at something like that, because the rental rates in the Beaufort-Delta are a lot more inconsistent and a lot higher...

I’ll have Mr. Anderson respond to that.

As far as the actual mine site, we’d have to work with INAC -- because it is kind of a multi-jurisdictional issue -- on the actual cleanup of the mine site. The infrastructure I think is what’s in question here. I suppose if we were unable to find a contractor to remove those, then we’d have to go from there and see what actually it might cost us as a government to remove all of the old infrastructure, because they are starting to age and the longer we delay it, the more dangerous it becomes to have that infrastructure out there. So it is one that we’re hoping to have by the end of this winter...

This is one of the reasons that making the amendments to the Commissioner’s Land Act requiring security deposits would have helped us in recovering some of those costs. As far as the actual going after the contractors, I haven’t had that discussion and once I have a discussion with my officials, I’ll meet with the Member and relay those on to her. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will table A Clear Path Forward: The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ Strategic Plan 2010-2015. This strategic plan was developed through an inclusive process involving staff, partners and stakeholders. It is in sync with the 16th Assembly’s priorities and embraces the goal of healthy, sustainable communities.

MACA has a broad mandate involving a variety of stakeholders. The department aims to provide relevant, effective programs and services reflecting innovation, learning and excellence.

Given the many changes of the past three years, it was...