Robert C. McLeod

As the Minister of MACA I can’t make a commitment of funds on behalf of other Ministers. However, I will commit again that MACA’s staff will work with community governments in Tu Nedhe to see what options they have and support them in ensuring their equipment and planning and preventative maintenance needs are looked after.

MACA provides O&M formula funding to all community governments to support them in operating and maintenance in their communities. They do a review every couple of years to see if there’s an increase that might be needed because of the high cost of living and supplying these services. MACA is always willing to support community governments to try to find the most cost-effective ways to take care of the equipment they have in the community.

Mr. Speaker, a priority of the 16th Legislative Assembly is to work with families, communities and schools to improve the physical and mental well-being of our youth. An investment in the development of one of our most important resources, our youth, will help us achieve that objective.

The Youth Secretariat, within Municipal and Community Affairs, continues to promote healthy choices and lifestyles by improving youth programming in the Northwest Territories. Two new youth officer positions have been created in regional centres to provide support for all NWT communities and improve our ability...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven’t been briefed on that particular issue yet, but I will let the Member know that I will get a briefing on it, and I will be in a better position to answer his question.

I’m pleased to sit down with the Member and discuss the concept he’s presenting. We do currently provide housing allocations and housing budgets based on core needs, and we look at the national average. We also look at what is the core need in each community. I fully recognize that the two communities that the Member represents are above the core need average, so I would be pleased to sit down and talk to him about it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We just went through an exercise and review and a whole program change to look at our programs to see how well they are delivered and how well the communities understand the criteria and what is being provided. We reduced our programs to four programs. We think they’ve been targeted to a wide range of the population of the Northwest Territories.

The Member has indicated in his statement that one size certainly doesn’t fit all, and we agree. We’ve got programs that are targeted to low income families and communities. We have targeted programs for families who want to own...

One of the things I do not intend to do very much is take questions on notice. I will commit to be briefed on a lot of the material that Members are bringing forward to me, including the questions brought forward by the Member for Nahendeh. I will get briefed on it, and like I said, I will be in a much better position to give a very good answer.

I would have to get more clarity on the Member’s comments on how we allocate the units. We certainly feel that our current system is fair. We base it on core need, and we try to balance the investment between public housing and home ownership. However, I would certainly need to have more discussion to fully understand where he would like us to embark with the new allocation.

We’ve had a community needs survey completed and presented in 2004. That was shared with Members of this House and the general public. We also had in 2006 a housing data census. The next community housing needs will be done in 2009. Mr. Speaker, that’s the information we use to allocate our budget, based on this information.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to share some positive service focused information about the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, which I’ll now refer to as WSCC.

The WSCC Governance Council sets employer assessment rates each year to reflect industry claims experience and to ensure employer assessments are adequate to fund current costs as well as projected costs. Effective January 1 the 2009 average assessment rate will remain $1.71 per $100 of assessable payroll. The governance council continues its commitment to keep employer assessment rates stable and affordable. Our rates remain...