Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for the 2010-11 infrastructure budget there has been no decision as to… The Member is right; this is a budget that’s approved here in the Legislative Assembly. So there’s been no decision as to moving any of the projects around. If there is, once the budget is approved, if we have issues where there might be some projects moved around, then, obviously, the Member is correct, we’d let the Members know.

We’ll have to follow up on the Member’s concern about people in the communities getting phone calls. If the Member will allow us to follow up with that and see...

The 16 that I referred to are 16 signed agreements that we have in place right now. There are still a few more that are working on finalizing their plans and then we’ll sign an agreement with them and that will be part of that $1.5 million. This is the program that requires continued funding. We would have to add that into our budget for the coming year or make monies available, because there does seem to be a great interest in this particular initiative. I can commit to the Member that if the interest is out there and the communities are still involved, we’re always willing to do what we can...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me today Mr. Jeff Polakoff on my right, president of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, also I have Mr. Jeff Anderson. He is the vice-president of finance for the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you.

The Member raises a good point and it’s a concern that’s shared across the Northwest Territories, especially in some of the smaller communities. A lot of the LHOs have zero tolerance, where if they know that you’re carrying out illegal activities, then it’s within their power to do something about it. But part of the problem is getting people to come forward and identifying them, because there’s a process that you have to go through. I think that’s the toughest part, because you get calls and you know who’s doing illegal activities. Some of it could get tied up in the law’s hands, and if you...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This particular figure is not with another department. It was one-time funding for the Housing Corporation. It’s still in our department. We are working with communities, some of the development corporations and that, and I think we had that discussion during the briefing. The money was a one-time figure and it’s declining now and not part of this budget.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I may have to have a discussion with the Member, but my understanding is there is still an LHO in Tsiigehtchic with a manager and a maintenance foreman and an apprentice, I believe. So my understanding is there’s still an LHO in Tsiigehtchic, but I’d have to confirm that and I will follow it up with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member raised a few points there. I think he’s saying that because of these four programs it’s his opinion that our core need went up based on…(inaudible)…and the four programs cover just about everything. Even the overall houses that need repair affect our core need. That’s factored into our core need, public housing units. So that’s factored in and I think we’ve talked about the number of units that are under repair. That would obviously affect our core need.

I think in response to Mr. Krutko’s question before, or Mr. Bromley, we have 150 units that are under repair...

Mr. Speaker, I will commit to the Member that, as I get information from the committee, I will share the information with the Members and get some feedback. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to welcome my constituency assistant, Leah Ipana, to the gallery.