Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can assure the Member that any feedback is not a waste of time. I can assure him that in the February meeting of the committee they will take all correspondence that they’ve had, all consultation, all feedback that they’ve had and do a summary and provide written correspondence to those that submitted the recommendations. Then they will continue to consult with them and make sure that all their input is taken. I can assure the Member that the input is taken quite seriously.

We’re all reviewing the needs of tenants and residents across the Northwest Territories. I will commit to the Member, and I’m actually going into the community of Lutselk’e with the Member and have an opportunity to meet with the leadership there. I’m sure they’ll share a lot of the same concerns. With that in mind, we’re always reviewing how we put units on the ground and this is going to be another opportunity to do that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of it is related to the needs survey. We would try to allocate funding according to the most need. I can assure the Member that the Housing Corporation is doing, and will continue to do, whatever it can to ensure that seniors across the Northwest Territories are well cared for.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have with me Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The City has made application to the federal government for some of the Green Fund, and we have supported that and are waiting to hear back from the federal government.

Thank you. The whole program review will be undertaken in the ‘11-‘12 Housing Choices Program. We have to, as a department, corporation, look at the core need income threshold and see if it’s meeting the needs of the people in the Northwest Territories, and our goal was to get more people into units. So as a corporation, becoming a little more flexible in how we try to get those people into units. I believe after this intake period we’re going to see success in getting more people into a lot of these units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We’re well aware of the good quality of buildings that are going into our smaller communities. The Member was talking about building standards. I was saying we didn’t regulate building standards. We don’t impose it on them. It’s basically a community’s decision and the communities are knowledgeable enough to realize that they need to make a good investment into sound infrastructure to help their overall cost in the long run. Thank you.

Thank you. I completely agree with the Member that these are the people that we want to capture, and that’s the reason I’ve asked the Housing Corporation to become a little more flexible in how we allocate. We hear a lot of stories of people that are just over core need income threshold that are being denied and it’s my wish to try and get these people into homeownership. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The communities have all submitted their energy plans and we continue to share best practices with them. The Member talks about the large communities as opposed to the smaller communities, and I give the smaller communities a lot of credit. I mean, they know their communities, they know that if they build a building that meets all the standards, that’s very efficient, that it’s a benefit to them and I can’t see a lot of the communities... I believe those days of building a building where the air just flows right through are long gone. So I give the communities a lot of...

I believe one of the graduates or nursing students is from Inuvik, so I would like to recognize Candace Manuel.

I’d also like to recognize, while I have the opportunity, our two hardworking Pages from Inuvik Twin Lakes: Ashlyn Hendrick and Tessie Chinna.