Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I said we will have a discussion as to the process of funding adult sports and I will put the adults in with the seniors, because there will be a lot of requests coming from other sporting organizations, other adult sports groups.

If we were to start this, we do have a mandate to focus the multisport games on the youth. I could have a conversation with my Cabinet colleagues and see if there are pots of money available, but I really can’t make a commitment -- I don’t think I did -- that we are going to fund this from the multisport budget. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will commit to meet with the DEA. It is always in our best interest to hear what the communities are saying, because they know best what is needed in their communities. If we can work in cooperation with them, that would make the whole process a lot smoother and we will be able to provide housing for staff and a lot of the professionals in the small communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the longer-term solution is we are working with the Refocusing Government committee. We are in the process of speaking to a lot of the development corporations in the community. We have had some excellent buy-in. There has been a lot of interest expressed by the development corporations in accessing some of the programs. We do have some incentives that we are proposing to them. Also, one of the incentives is using some of our existing houses and see if we could turn those into housing for staff, if there is a surplus in some of the communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would make the commitment to the Member that we will have a serious look at this and we’ll make sure that it’s well thought out before we attempt to put it on the ground. We’ll seek some input from a lot of the Members, because a lot of them do represent the small communities. We’ll get as much input as we can before we attempt to roll this out. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we would like to see the local communities put more input into the houses that go into their communities. We are, for the basic shelter, just redoing that right now. We’re hoping to be able to roll that out pretty soon and we’re looking to get some input.

As far as the log homes go, there were a couple of pilot projects done in the past. At this point in time, it doesn’t make economic sense. If we can do it a lot cheaper than the pilot projects were done, then it’s something that we’re willing to have a look at. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t expect to be thanked for an answer that is not what the Members are looking for, but sometimes we have to give those answers whether they are popular or needed or not. If it opens me up for criticism as to the position I am taking focussing on the youth of the Northwest Territories who will become adults, who will become seniors and they will be able to function better and be a better person for going to these games. I am not willing to make a commitment to fund the seniors multisport games out of the multisport game budget, because that mandate is for the youth and that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish that were true that the buck stops at my desk and I would be able to dole out the money to all those that asked, because we do get a lot of requests for funding. We do try and tend to look after the youth and try and get them out there and take part in a lot of these games. If there is a desire to fund adult games, I am not sure if that is where we want to go to, because the requests will start coming in from other adults.

We are always willing to have a list and see if there are ways that we can support all games. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the eviction of tenants from public housing is a long process and it usually takes a year by the time you get to the actual eviction itself. You’re given termination notices and tenants have the opportunity to speak to the LHO. If that fails, they have the opportunity to speak to the board. I’ve known cases where they’ve spoken to the board two or three times, or were given an opportunity to. All they’re asked to do is come up with a payment plan, as small as it is, as long as they show that they’re making some progress towards writing off their arrears, and the LHOs are more than...

Mr. Speaker, we’re working very closely, as far as public housing arrears go, with the LHOs to try and address some of their arrears issues and provide any input and help we can to them. As far as the mortgage arrears for homeownership, there’s been some good progress on those. We’ve had a lot of people who have refinanced and they’re making some excellent progress on the collection of mortgage arrears. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation is working hard to address the needs of all communities across the Northwest Territories and all the Members. But I can advise the Member that I have provided direction to the Housing Corporation and we are taking very seriously the needs of a lot of the smaller communities and we will be working with the communities. When we have the results of the survey, I’ll look forward to sharing those results with Members and all interested stakeholders. From there, we can map out some direction for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Thanks.